JAKARTA – Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said on Friday her country encourages a national inclusive dialogue among all stakeholders in Myanmar to help resolve the crisis there.
Initial engagements have taken place and continue, she said, since they are crucial in building trust among the different parties, and they help to narrow differences.
They are also key in encouraging the de-escalation of violence and renouncing the use of force.
However, “engagements are not the goal but a means to getting to the goal of inclusive dialogue to achieve peace that is durable”, she noted.
Ms Retno was speaking to reporters at a regular Foreign Ministry briefing in Jakarta. She said that now is the time to encourage the parties involved to have a national inclusive dialogue. “Inclusive dialogue is the only way forward if the parties want durable peace in Myanmar. All external parties must encourage inclusive dialogue in Myanmar,” she said.
She added that Indonesia, as the current Asean chair, has carried out 110 “intensive and inclusive” engagements with stakeholders in person, virtually and by phone, in the last seven months.
She has made several in-person engagements with the foreign ministers of the State Administration Council, the junta military regime and the shadow National Unity Government.
Ms Retno said she conveyed the importance of inclusive dialogue during those meetings.
The Asean chair’s Office of Special Envoy to Myanmar has also conducted engagements with the ethnic resistance organisations, representatives of political parties and civil society organisations, and other parties in Myanmar.
In addition, Indonesia has also engaged with Myanmar’s neighbouring countries and other players.
Ms Retno said engagements with key parties are key in implementing the five-point peace plan adopted by Asean in April 2021.
It called for a dialogue among all parties, an immediate halt to violence in Myanmar, the appointment of an Asean special envoy to facilitate mediation, humanitarian assistance and a visit by an Asean delegation to Myanmar to meet all concerned parties.
The 10-nation bloc has been accused of being slow and ineffective in resolving regional issues, the biggest being Myanmar.
The country has been in turmoil since February 2021, when the military overthrew the democratically elected government in a coup.
Post-coup violence has seen thousands of civilians killed and hundreds of thousands displaced.
Ms Retno stressed that the violence in Myanmar needs to stop to allow for a conducive situation to carry out an inclusive dialogue.
“Without an inclusive dialogue, there will be no peaceful settlement accepted by all parties, and there will be no lasting peace in Myanmar,” she said.
“Conflict can only be resolved if the parties have the passion and genuine commitment to create peace.”
Asean foreign ministers, along with their counterparts from the United States, China, Russia and other key partners, will gather in Jakarta from next Monday to Friday for the Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and related meetings. Some 1,165 delegates and 493 journalists have registered for the events.
Asean foreign ministers will also meet their counterparts from 11 key dialogue partners, including China, India, Japan, Russia, Britain, the United States and the European Union.
Large group meetings involving these nations will also be held.
