No easy solutions to Myanmar crisis

Asean’s recently concluded 42nd summit will probably be remembered not for

breakthrough ideas but a paucity of them,

particularly on the

vexed issue of the continuing crisis in Myanmar

where the ruling junta’s intransigence and proclivity to violence is severely testing the patience of its Asean peers. On May 7, a relief convoy with Indonesian and Singaporean diplomats heading to Shan state was

attacked by unidentified people just ahead of the summit,

in what many thought was an orchestrated warning shot across the bows to Asean that Naypyitaw brooks no interference in how it handles its internal situation.

Even though Indonesian President Joko Widodo organised an emergency Asean summit weeks after the February 2021 coup that toppled Ms Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government, Asean has struggled to have some say in Myanmar developments. A five-point “consensus” to which Senior General Min Aung Hlaing was a party was swiftly ignored by the general upon reaching home, eventually leading to Asean suspending Myanmar’s summit-level participation. Since then, Indonesia, now the rotating chair of the regional bloc, has adopted a “non-megaphone” policy, with more than 60 engagements at multiple levels and with various stakeholders.