Myanmar's Southeast Asian neighbours are seeking "gradual" engagement but the country's leadership remains sidelined by their ASEAN bloc, Thailand said Friday ahead of the first meeting of foreign ministers since the coup.
Myanmar Foreign Minister Tin Maung Swe will meet counterparts from the 11-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at an "informal meeting" in Bangkok on Sunday.
The Philippines, which has the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN this year, on Friday confirmed it was "the first in-person engagement between the foreign ministers of ASEAN and Myanmar since the 2021 military coup".
"These meetings represent an important step towards the gradual and principled engagement with Myanmar," said Maratee Nalita Andamo, a deputy spokesperson for the Thai foreign ministry.
"They are informal consultations in nature and do not alter ASEAN's established position or decisions regarding the situation in Myanmar."
At a press briefing, she said the talks were an opportunity "to exchange views frankly" and explore a way forward.
ASEAN has blocked Myanmar from its high-level summits since the military ousted the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, plunging the country into civil war.
But it has made little progress with its five-point peace plan to end the war through national dialogue with all sides.
Consensus among nations in the bloc is now fraying, analysts say, between those open to seizing on small concessions to bring Myanmar back into the fold -- led by Bangkok -- and those maintaining a firmer stance.
The governments of Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam all confirmed their foreign ministers would attend on Sunday.
But the Thai spokeswoman said they were "still finalising" the guestlist.
She said recent elections in Myanmar, after which coup leader Min Aung Hlaing took over as civilian president, had created an opening -- despite the vote being highly restricted.
The holding of elections was "a significant development and an important opportunity that has not existed over the past five years", she said.
The Philippines said the Myanmar minister would brief his counterparts on the current situation in the country.
More than 100,000 people have been killed in the civil war, according to monitor group ACLED.
AFP
