'We are now trying to build what we call a coalition of mercy because nothing else has worked,' Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said in Washington.
'There is a consensus emerging now that Asean has to take the lead and Asean has risen to the occasion,' he told a forum of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Visa for Asean team
Mr Surin said Myanmar's military junta had already agreed to issue visas to an Asean rapid assessment team, with some officials already on the ground and more expected to enter the reclusive nation soon.
'It is the beginning. It is defining moment for Asean, but Asean needs encouragement, needs less of criticism, less of ridicule,' he said.
The government of Myanmar, which is an Asean member, has come under international criticism for refusing to allow foreign aid experts into the country to distribute badly needed relief supplies following the devastating May 2-3 storm.
Even Asean teams have not been welcomed despite appeals to the Myanmar military by the grouping, which had been slammed in the past by international groups for not being able to rein in the troublesome member.
'We are trying to work around a very, very stiff resistance, mentality and mindset that have been there for a long long time,' Mr Surin said.
The cyclone crisis, which has left around 62,000 dead or missing, erupted a year after the 10-nation bloc signed a landmark charter committing it to human rights and democratic ideals and setting out principles and rules for members.
Mr Surin said he had asked the UN's top humanitarian official John Holmes 'to get in touch with governments at the highest level' in the region to help organise a relief aid delivery and logistical support system so that it could swing into action once the junta gave the greenlight.
Asked whether the Asean-led coalition would facilitate the full range of international assistance and delivery mechanism, Mr Surin said, 'I think at this point, we cannot afford to think only of relief assistance.
'We have to think ahead. We also have to think of the medium term,' he said, citing rehabilitation and reconstruction of the areas ravaged by the cyclone.
Asean ministers' meeting
Asean foreign ministers are to meet in Singapore on May 19 to review the assessment team's report on the disaster and decide how member states can help the survivors.
'They too know that the world is expecting Asean to rise to the challenge,' Surin said, indicating that they could make some major decisions.
Aside from Myanmar, Asean comprises Brunei, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Junta says it can cope
Myanmar insisted on Thursday that it could handle the massive cyclone relief operation, despite warnings that many more people could die unless aid workers gain access to the two million people in need.
'Myanmar people accept any kinds of foreign aid with appreciation, regardless of the amount,' said an editorial in the government mouthpiece newspaper, the New Light of Myanmar.
'However, they will not rely too much on international assistance, and will reconstruct the nation on self-reliance basis,' the English-language daily said.
International aid agencies say they are battling to provide vital food, shelter and water through the country's dilapidated infrastructure, but the junta has refused to budge on access, despite mounting international pressure.
'Relief operations were carried out effectively with the aim of helping the survivors to continue to survive the aftershocks,' the editorial said.
'It is believed that the nation will be able to overcome all forms of challenges related to natural disasters,' it added.- AFP