ASEAN Special Envoy meets Myanmar ethnic armed groups in Thailand

Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Theresa Lazaro delivers an opening statement during the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Foreign Ministers' Meeting ahead of the 48th ASEAN Summit and Related Meetings in Cebu, Philippines, on May 7. (Credit: Reuters)

ASEAN’s special envoy on Myanmar held talks with ethnic armed groups and ​a regime-backed negotiation committee in an effort to tackle a civil war, with both ‌sides expressing openness to dialogue, the Philippines said on Tuesday.

The talks took place in Thailand on Monday and followed a separate meeting a day earlier between foreign ministers of the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and their Myanmar counterpart, ​their first face-to-face talks since a 2021 military coup in Myanmar that triggered nationwide conflict.

Myanmar’s regime, which seized power during a military coup on Feb. 1, 2021, has been barred from top-level ASEAN meetings over their failure to ⁠comply with its “Five-Point Consensus” peace initiative, but some members of the bloc hope Sunday’s meeting ​can lead to progress.

But some analysts have said that re-engaging with Myanmar’s pro-military administration, led by regime leader Min Aung Hlaing, could weaken ASEAN’s leverage.

‘Way forward on dialogue’

ASEAN 2026 Chair the Philippines Special Envoy on Myanmar Ma. Theresa P. Lazaro, the foreign minister of the Philippines, met “to discuss the way forward on an inclusive national political dialogue” with representatives of ​some of Myanmar ethnic armed groups and the regime’s National Solidarity and Peacemaking Negotiation Committee (NSPNC), according to ​a Philippine foreign ministry statement.

“All sides expressed openness to the dialogue process and emphasised the importance of constructive dialogue,” ‌it said.

Several ⁠ethnic armed groups contacted by Reuters declined to comment.

The National Unity Government (NUG), a parallel administration in exile formed by remnants of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party administration, which was ousted from government in the 2021 coup, said it was not invited and expressed concern over the talks.

“We have major questions about ​whether this meeting is ​intended to implement the ⁠ASEAN Five-Point Consensus, or if it is based on the military junta’s 100-day project and their own peace plan,” Zin Mar ​Aung, the NUG Foreign Minister, told Reuters.

After it took office in April, Myanmar’s new pro-military administration announced it ​was seeking peace ⁠talks with opposition armed groups within 100 days.

The 2021 coup led to nationwide protests against military rule that morphed into a civil war fought on multiple fronts between the armed forces and various ethnic nationality and ⁠militia groups. ​An estimated 100,000 people have been killed 3.6 million displaced.

Min ​Aung Hlaing assumed the presidency on April 10 after being appointed by a parliament dominated by a pro-military party following a one-sided election earlier in the year ​that human rights groups and Western governments called a sham.

REUTERS