Indonesia has organised over 60 engagements on Myanmar crisis: Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi

JAKARTA – Indonesia has organised more than 60 engagements related to the Myanmar crisis in 2023, including with “key partners” such as the United States and India, as part of its work as Asean chair to end the violence there.

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said on Friday that Indonesia has continued its “non-megaphone diplomacy” work on Myanmar, referring to talks that have been going on behind closed doors.

Such an approach has been well received, she said, adding that these engagements have involved stakeholders such as Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG), its military regime and the United Nations.

Countries including the US, India, Japan and Thailand have been part of these talks, as has the European Union.

“In these engagements, our aim is to quickly have an inclusive national dialogue there. But it has to be acknowledged that the differences in the positions of the stakeholders in Myanmar are wide and deep,” said Ms Retno at a briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“Despite this, Indonesia will not give up as chair, and play its role as a bridge between these differences and will continue these engagements.”

Ms Retno stressed that the quiet diplomacy approach that Indonesia has taken does not mean that it has not made any progress on this issue.

“What is happening instead is that, in the past four months, Indonesia has done a lot so that, hopefully, the foundations will be laid for subsequent efforts,” she said.

Indonesia, as Asean chair in 2023, has vowed to do its best to improve the situation in Myanmar, which has been in turmoil after the country’s military overthrew the democratically elected government in a coup in February 2021.

In April 2021, Asean drew up a five-point consensus (5PC) peace plan with Myanmar, but there has been little progress in restoring peace. Violence following the coup has killed thousands.

The priority for Indonesia is to implement the peace plan that Myanmar had agreed to and end the violence there, and Ms Retno stressed the importance of the engagements that have been taking place.

On Friday, Ms Retno also touched on the upcoming Asean Summit, which will be held in Labuan Bajo, a town on the western tip of Indonesia’s Flores island, from next Tuesday to Thursday.

More than 1,100 people, including some 776 delegates, have registered for next week’s event, she said.

Eight out of ten Asean leaders will be attending the summit. Myanmar has not been invited at the political leadership level as per prevailing Asean norms, and Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will be involved in his country’s elections.

Among the issues expected to be discussed at the high-level summit are the crisis in Myanmar, the drafting of a road map to full Asean membership for Timor-Leste, and negotiations on the code of conduct in the South China Sea.

Asean leaders will attend eight meetings in plenary and retreat formats, seven of which will be chaired by Indonesian President Joko Widodo.

Indonesia will reportedly be deploying more than 2,600 security personnel for the summit, including officers from the national and regional police force.