By Arun Kumar Shrivastav
At the recently concluded annual ASEAN Summit, member nations called for “an immediate cessation” of violence and the creation of “a conducive environment for the delivery of humanitarian assistance and inclusive national dialogue.” The conflict between Myanmar’s military government and armed rebel groups whose size and number have grown significantly since the coup in 2021. The five-point peace plan offered by the ASEAN a few months after the coup was never implemented by the ruling Myanmar military.
Thailand’s Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi took special interest in seeing the Myanmar civil war coming to an end. Before the ASEAN Summit, Shinawatra called upon other ASEAN members to ensure early resolution of the Myanmar crisis. During the ASEAN summit, she proposed a dialogue with ASEAN members in Thailand later this year to discuss the Myanmar issue. PM Modi highlighted why Myanmar should not be shunned and isolated rather it should be engaged. He also discussed how India’s Nalanda University can be a common ground for ASEAN nations to feel one and united.
More than one-thirds of Myanmar’s population or about 18.6 million people are estimated to be in need of humanitarian assistance. ASEAN welcomed Thailand’s proposal to hold informal talks on Myanmar later this year.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at ASEAN-United Nations Summit urged Myanmar’s neighbours “to leverage their influence” to bring about peace. The UN Chief’s appeal comes in the wake of aid agencies warning that millions of people are in acute need of assistance across Myanmar. The problem is more acute in the north, southeast, and Rakhine state.
“The humanitarian situation is spiralling. One-third of the population is in dire need of humanitarian assistance. Millions have been forced to flee their homes,” Guterres said at the summit. “I support strengthened cooperation between the UN Special Envoy and the ASEAN Chair on innovative ways to promote a Myanmar-led process,” he added.
The Secretary-General emphasized that achieving peace in Myanmar hinges on the effective implementation of ASEAN’s “Five-Point Consensus.” This plan calls for an immediate cessation of violence, dialogue among all parties, and enhanced humanitarian assistance.
Key to peace in Myanmar will be the effective implementation of ASEAN’s “Five-Point Consensus”, the Secretary-General said, referring to the bloc’s plan that includes an immediate end of violence, dialogue among all parties and increased humanitarian assistance.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was present in Laos for the two-day regional event. He led the Indian delegation for the 24th ASEAN-India Summit and 18th East Asia Summit. During his discussion with leaders at the East Asia Summit, he insisted on the importance of restoration of democracy in Myanmar and all nations should work for it. He, however, also insisted on inclusion of Myanmar; it should not be isolated.
“Many leaders emphasised the importance of the ASEAN five-point consensus. The PM also emphasised that Myanmar should be engaged and should not be isolated and that it is important to restore democracy in Myanmar and all countries should work together to achieve this,” Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary at the Indian Ministry of External Affairs (East) said at a special briefing on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Myanmar junta has started a census in the country for a general election to be held next year. However, census officials claimed they are being harassed and kidnapped by rebel groups. While officials are wrapping up the census, observers feel that the data they collected is flawed as many residents have fled their homes and joined rebel groups or they have been imprisoned by the military government.
Indian borders along Myanmar have been witnessing an increased influx of illegal migrants and smuggling of weapons. In a joint operation, Assam Rifles and Mizoram Police on Sunday intercepted a bike and recovered 39,900 detonators and a mobile phone from the person.
During the annual ASEAN Summit, disputes over the South China Sea figured prominently. Other than the 10 Southeast Asian countries in ASEAN, representatives of the United States, Russia, China, Japan, India, Canada, and South Korea were also present during the summit.
Mazumdar also informed that PM Modi took the opportunity in Laos to invite the heads of higher education of the summit states to attend a conclave at Nalanda University.
“The PM recalled the support that was received from the East Asia Summit state for the revival of Nalanda University and briefed that now we have operationalised it. He also took this opportunity to invite the East Asia Summit states for their heads of higher education to participate in a conclave to be held at Nalanda University,” Mazumdar said.
PM Modi also informed the gathering that India has doubled the number of scholarships at Nalanda University. (IPA
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