ASEAN foreign ministers are set to hold special talks with Myanmar’s foreign minister in Bangkok, marking the first in-person engagement with Myanmar’s top diplomat since the 2021 coup. ASEAN sources describe the meeting as a step toward re-engaging Myanmar after several years of limited contact and Myanmar’s exclusion from ASEAN summits during the period of military rule and escalating conflict.
The Philippines, which is chair of the 11-member bloc, will lead the session. Ahead of the meeting, the Philippines and other ASEAN members say the discussions will focus on Myanmar’s civil war as well as how Myanmar will engage with ASEAN going forward. Multiple reports state ASEAN reiterates its five-point peace consensus, and that any further normalization of relations depends on Myanmar’s compliance with that framework.
The outlets broadly agree that the talks aim to establish a structured dialogue after prolonged diplomatic distance, while also maintaining ASEAN’s conditions for closer engagement tied to political and security commitments under the bloc’s consensus plan.
