Irrawaddy-May 28
Indonesia will host a new round of informal discussions on Myanmar in Jakarta in early June, according to a source invited to attend the talks. Tentatively scheduled for June 4-8, the discussions are expected to involve separate meetings with representatives of revolutionary forces, domestic political groups and the military regime. The planned talks would be the latest in a long series of regional diplomatic efforts aimed at addressing Myanmar’s escalating conflict since the 2021 coup. During the recent Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Cebu, Philippines, Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto urged dialogue on Myanmar and called on countries to prioritize finding peaceful resolutions to regional conflicts. Last December, Indonesia hosted separate informal meetings with representatives of the resistance movement and the regime. Most recently, Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan visited Myanmar in early May. After meeting with his regime counterpart in Naypyitaw, Mohamad said Myanmar authorities appeared more open to discussions and to bringing “all parties” together, calling it a “positive development.” However, Myanmar’s ethnic armed organizations and observers warned that the regime’s expression of readiness for peace talks was simply a PR exercise aimed at winning recognition from the international community and did not reflect a genuine desire for peace. Myanmar has been in turmoil since the 2021 military coup that overthrew the democratically elected government, plunging the country into a civil war between the military and an alliance of longstanding ethnic armed groups and newly formed resistance forces. Coup leader turned president Min Aung Hlaing is pushing hard to break Myanmar’s isolation, using his new civilian title to press for a return to full participation in ASEAN, which continues to bar him from its summits for failing to honor its Five Point Consensus agreed shortly after the 2021 coup. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. reiterated that detained civilian leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s release remains central to negotiations, and that ASEAN’s position has not shifted. Read more at:
