Myanmar’s military-backed rulers came to Manila hoping for a way back into the inner circle of Southeast Asian diplomacy. They left with a carefully worded promise and no firm date.
Leaders of the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, meeting on Sunday for their 49th summit, agreed in a joint statement to pursue what they called “calibrated engagement” with Myanmar. The approach is to be phased and tied to progress, and only “sustained and concrete” steps in implementing ASEAN’s 2021 peace roadmap, known as the Five-Point Consensus, could lead to a “gradual restoration” of the country’s full political representation.
Myanmar’s top officials have been barred from ASEAN summits since the 2021 coup, after the junta failed to halt violence or open talks with its opponents. Bangkok has been the loudest voice for bringing Myanmar in from the cold, especially since Min Aung Hlaing, who led the coup, swapped his uniform for the presidency this year after a vote that observers called a charade. At the summit table, Myanmar was represented only by a senior foreign ministry official, Han Win Aung.
Diplomatic sources had already indicated on Saturday that a decision on a full return would be postponed. One factor, they said, was the continued detention of Aung San Suu Kyi, the civilian leader ousted in the coup; ASEAN counts progress on her situation among its criteria.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who chairs the bloc this year, had admitted in May that he saw no progress inside Myanmar. Opening Sunday’s leaders’ retreat, he put the same question to his colleagues as six months earlier: “What more can we do for Myanmar?” He later said members would continue “constructive and principled engagement”.
The meetings in Manila run until Tuesday. Among the guests due for the follow-up sessions are Donald Trump, Japan’s Sanae Takaichi, Narendra Modi of India and China’s Li Qiang.
