ASEAN seeks ‘calibrated engagement’ with Myanmar: Statement
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Thailand has been leading efforts to normalise relations with Myanmar since coup leader Min Aung Hlaing was installed as civilian president in 2026.
PHOTO: EPA
MANILA – South-east Asian leaders agreed on Nov 15 on pursuing a “calibrated engagement” with Myanmar’s post-coup government, according to a joint statement, as the regional bloc seeks a path towards normalisation.
Myanmar is still a member of ASEAN, but it has been frozen out of high-level meetings since a military junta seized power in a coup in 2021.
Thailand has been leading efforts to normalise relations with Myanmar since coup leader Min Aung Hlaing was installed as civilian president in 2026 following elections dismissed by monitors as a charade.
Bangkok has called for a “calibrated engagement” with Myanmar in an effort to implement ASEAN’s “five-point consensus” (5PC) plan aimed at ending the war between the military and a coalition of pro-democracy rebels and ethnic minority armed groups.
ASEAN leaders meeting in Manila adopted that language in calling for the pursuit of “a calibrated engagement with Myanmar through a phased and progress-based approach, taking into account developments on the ground”, according to the joint statement.
“Subject to sustained and concrete progress in the implementation of the 5PC by Myanmar, ASEAN may consider the gradual restoration of Myanmar’s full political representation,” the statement said.
The five-point plan has yielded little in the half-decade since it was agreed to, with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos conceding at a May summit he had not seen “any progress in Myanmar”.
On Nov 15, in opening remarks at an ASEAN leaders’ retreat in Manila, he repeated a question he had posed to the group six months earlier: “What more can we do for Myanmar?”
“I hope our session leads to practical and forward-looking discussions on how we can further advance the implementation of the five-point consensus, make our efforts more responsive to the realities on the ground, and support a peaceful, inclusive, Myanmar-owned and Myanmar-led process,” he said.
The ASEAN bloc’s rotating chair will pass at the end of 2026 from the Philippines to Singapore, a city-state analysts say opposes normalising ties with Myanmar.
In 2028, it will be the turn of Thailand, which shares a long border with Myanmar and is leading the charge for closer relations.
“We believe it’s crucial to have someone at the table who can really talk on policy issues because engagement requires that they have someone who can really convey to us the position of Myanmar,” Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow told AFP in Singapore on Nov 5.
“This is not about... recognising... upgrading their position. But I think in reality, what is important is that we need someone at the table who can speak on behalf of Myanmar.” AFP