Asean considering bolder engagement with Myanmar, says Anwar

 The prime minister says Asean foreign ministers will begin discussions within weeks on new engagement mechanisms involving Myanmar.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Asean leaders are now seriously considering an ‘aggressive’ engagement with Myanmar while maintaining the bloc’s Five-Point Consensus.

CEBU:

 Major progress has been made at Asean’s latest discussions on Myanmar today, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said, with member states now showing greater willingness to deal with Myanmar more effectively.

Anwar said Asean leaders are now seriously considering an “aggressive” engagement with Myanmar while maintaining the bloc’s Five-Point Consensus.

“Today, for the first time, there was a willingness to say, ‘Okay, we move on. The Five-Point Consensus remains, but at least we must have more effective engagement,’” he said at a press conference here. The shift marked a significant change from previous discussions, where there had been little commitment among Asean leaders to move the process forward, he said.

He said Asean foreign ministers will begin discussions within weeks on new engagement mechanisms involving Myanmar, which could include visits by regional foreign ministers and leaders to strengthen dialogue channels.

“It is not the final resolution, it takes time,” he added.

Myanmar has remained one of Asean’s most difficult challenges since the military coup in 2021, with the bloc struggling to enforce the Five-Point Consensus agreed upon with the junta.

Separately, Anwar said the bloc had reached an agreement on regional rice supply cooperation following surplus production in countries such as Indonesia and Vietnam. One proposal under consideration is a regional rice reserve or stockpile to ensure sufficient supply for vulnerable groups across the bloc.

Asean is also discussing broader cooperation involving petroleum, gas, and minerals to strengthen regional supply security, attributing the urgency to the impact of the Middle East war on global supply chains and prices, he told the press conference.

Also present at the press conference were foreign minister Mohamad Hasan, investment, trade and industry minister Johari Ghani, foreign ministry secretary-general Amran Zin, principal private secretary to the prime minister Shahrol Anuwar Sarman, and Malaysian ambassador to the Philippines, Abdul Malik Melvin Castelino Anthony. The delegation is in the Philippine city for the Asean summit. - FMT