ASEAN foreign ministers to hold informal meeting with Myanmar counterpart today

ASEAN foreign ministers will hold an informal meeting with the Myanmar military junta's foreign minister today, July 12, in Bangkok, Thailand. This meeting comes as the new government backed by the military in Myanmar, which emerged after elections held earlier this year, is seeking to lift the sanctions imposed by leaders who have been excluded from ASEAN summits due to the 2021 military coup and the subsequent civil war. Pham Thu Hang, spokesperson for the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that this meeting is an opportunity for ASEAN foreign ministers to directly exchange views, strengthen cooperation, and promote Myanmar's reconciliation process. The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs also confirmed the meeting in its regular press briefing schedule. The protracted civil war in Myanmar, where various armed organizations are fighting back against the military, has devastated many parts of the impoverished country, killing over 100,000 people and displacing millions. Due to Thailand's push for greater engagement with the new government in Naypyidaw, ASEAN foreign ministers agreed at the May summit to hold a meeting with Myanmar's top diplomat via video conference. The ASEAN bloc, comprising 11 member states, had distanced itself from the Myanmar military government after the junta failed to implement ASEAN's five-point consensus, but many member states have since changed their stances. The informal meeting to be held in Bangkok today is being facilitated by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and is expected to be attended mainly by ministers from Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam who wish to engage with the junta, while ASEAN countries that adhere to the ASEAN's five-point principles are expected to send only representatives.