Myanmar’s General Min Aung Hlaing, who seized power in February, has been excluded from an annual summit of regional leaders later this month, The BBC reports.
The Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) agreed to invite a non-political representative from Myanmar instead of the General.
It is a unprecedented move for the 10-member bloc, which traditionally avoids interfering in its members’ affairs. Myanmar’s military junta said it was “disappointed” with the decision.
Asean said the military had not done enough to end the turmoil in Myanmar, saying in a statement that an emergency meeting of its foreign ministers on Friday was unable to reach a consensus on whether the military should represent Myanmar at the summit held between October 26-28th.
The group said Myanmar’s military leaders had refused to fulfil promises of dialogue and de-escalation and said its representative had been banned from meeting the deposed and imprisoned civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi.
The statement – issued by Brunei, which is hosting the summit – said the situation in Myanmar “was having an impact on regional security as well as the unity, credibility and centrality of Asean”.
The BBC’s Jonathan Head in Bangkok said the decision to exclude the general from the summit, which will also be attended by US President Joe Biden and other world leaders, is a significant blow to the military government’s hopes of eventual international recognition.
Image: By Mil.ru, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/…
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