The military administration in Myanmar sent a representative to the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat on 29 January, marking the first time that a representative from Myanmar has attended a high-level ASEAN meeting in over two years.
The ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat was convened on 29 January 2024 to kick off Laos' Chairmanship of ASEAN. One of the topics high on the agenda was how to progress with the situation in Myanmar, which has been locked in a state of escalating conflict since its government was overthrown in a military coup in February 2021.
In April 2021, ASEAN formulated a 'Five-Point Consensus', including calls for an immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar and for the provision of humanitarian assistance. Myanmar's failure to implement the Five-Point Consensus led to a decision by ASEAN later that year to exclude the junta leader, Min Aung Hlaing, and other military leaders from attending high-level ASEAN meetings. ASEAN still allows the military junta to send a 'non-political representative' to the meetings - an invitation which Myanmar has declined up until this point. The attendance of Marlar Than Htaik, permanent secretary of the Foreign Ministry under the control of the Myanmar military junta, at the 2024 ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Retreat thus marks the first time that Myanmar has sent a representative to a high-level ASEAN summit since October 2021.
Eyes are on Laos as the new Chair of ASEAN, with analysts expressing doubt over whether the nation, as poorest in the 10-member regional bloc, will have the influence to make progress on sensitive issues, such as the conflict in Myanmar and tensions in the South China Sea. Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith expressed cautious optimism regarding Myanmar's presence at the Foreign Ministers' Retreat, stating that "[w]e feel a little bit optimistic that the engagement may work, although we have to admit that the issues that are happening in Myanmar will not resolve overnight." Despite this, there is little evidence to suggest that the military junta is now willing to implement the Five-Point Consensus in good faith, and doubts have been raised as to whether "ASEAN's form of constructive engagement will yield substantial fruit after nearly three years in which this approach has been tried and failed."
