Myanmar junta agrees to stop violence, says Muhyiddin

 

Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin and his Vietnamese counterpart Pham Minh Chinh at a meeting after a special Asean summit today. (Bernama pic)

JAKARTA: Myanmar’s junta has agreed that violence in the country must stop, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said today after a special Asean meeting at which Myanmar accepted all three Malaysian proposals for ending its internal crisis.

“General Min agreed that violence must stop,” said Muhyiddin after a special meeting of Asean leaders held with the Myanmar junta chief, senior General Min Aung Hlaing, at the Asean secretariat here.

“We have succeeded. It’s beyond our expectation in getting the outcome from today’s meeting,” said the prime minister.

Muhyiddin said Myanmar accepted all the three proposals put forward by Malaysia in tackling the crisis.

• to de-escalate the situation on the ground, and stop the killing and violence against civilians;
• to release political detainees promptly and unconditionally;
• to allow the Asean chair and Asean secretary-general to have access into Myanmar, including access to all the parties concerned.

Myanmar also agreed to other Asean proposals, including humanitarian assistance and national reconciliation efforts in settling the crisis.

The outcomes of the meeting proved some critics wrong that the regional grouping did not do anything in addressing the crisis, said Muhyiddin.

“We are very concerned with developments in Myanmar and we find ways to tackle the crisis,” he said.

The Myanmar crisis took centre stage at today’s meeting.

In February, Myanmar’s military overthrew the civilian government and declared a year-long state of emergency. The coup triggered mass protests which were met by deadly violence, resulting in hundreds of people having been killed since then. - FMT