JABAR EKSPRES – Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai confirmed news of his recent meeting with Myanmar’s ousted and still imprisoned leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
“She (Suu Kyi) is in good health,” Foreign Minister Pramudwinai said on the sidelines of a review session of the 56th Meeting of ASEAN Foreign Ministers in Jakarta on Wednesday.
From his meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi, according to him, the deposed leader encouraged dialog to resolve the political crisis in Myanmar.
The Thai foreign minister is of the view that an approach with the Naypyidaw authorities, including with the junta, is needed.
“There should be engagement with the junta,” he said.
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Thailand is known to have taken a different approach from other ASEAN members in its efforts to help resolve the Myanmar crisis.
Since last year, Thailand has held at least three meetings inviting representatives of the Myanmar junta, including a meeting last June that also invited ASEAN foreign ministers, but only the Lao Foreign Minister was willing to attend.
According to Pramudwinai, the talks that have been held three times by Thailand inviting the Myanmar junta have been in accordance with the agreement of ASEAN leaders based on the Five-Point Consensus (5PC) Implementation Review and Decision document.
As is known, the Five-Point Consensus calls for a cessation of violence, dialogue with all stakeholders, appointing special envoys to facilitate mediation and dialogue, allowing ASEAN to provide humanitarian assistance to Myanmar citizens, and allowing ASEAN special envoys to visit and meet with stakeholders in Myanmar.
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He referred to article 14 of the outcome document released after the 2022 ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, which reads “ASEAN will consider exploring other approaches that can support the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus”.
