ASEAN excludes Myanmar junta leader from summit in rare move

Oct 21

“Southeast Asian countries will invite a non-political representative from Myanmar to a regional summit this month, delivering an unprecedented snub to the military leader who led a coup against an elected civilian government in February.

“The decision taken by foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at an emergency meeting on Friday night was an unusually bold step for the consensus-driven bloc, which traditionally favours a policy of engagement and non-interference.

"Brunei, ASEAN's current chair, issued a statement citing a lack of progress made on a roadmap that the junta had agreed to with ASEAN in April to restore peace in Myanmar.

“Singapore's foreign ministry said on Saturday the move to exclude junta chief Min Aung Hlaing was a ‘difficult, but necessary, decision to uphold ASEAN’s credibility’.

“A spokesman for Myanmar's military government blamed ‘foreign intervention’ for the decision.”

Read more about ASEAN’s unprecedented decision in this report from Reuters.