IDNAround – An Indonesian senior diplomat told reporters on Wednesday that ASEAN had invited a non-political representative to the upcoming meetup between the bloc’s foreign ministers.
But it is up to Myanmar to send a non-political figure to the meeting — although the country has always declined the offer in the past, according to Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi.
ASEAN’s foreign ministers are scheduled to join the bloc’s 32nd coordinating council and a ministerial retreat at the group’s secretariat in Jakarta on Feb. 3-4. But the Southeast Asian grouping is blocking the Myanmar junta from its high-profile meetings.
“There is still an invitation for Myanmar. Myanmar is still an ASEAN member. We have a table assigned for Myanmar at ASEAN meetings, but the invitation was only sent out to a non-political level representative,” Retno said shortly after a conference at the National Resilience Institute (Lemhannas) in Jakarta on Wednesday.
“It is very much up to Myanmar how they will respond to the invitation. But they have never sent a non-political representative to our meetings over the past two years,” she added.
According to Retno, past meetings always saw Myanmar’s table unoccupied. Despite the Myanmar non-political figure’s absence, the country’s ASEAN membership remains unchanged.
“An unoccupied table does not mean ASEAN will become a nine-member [group]. ASEAN still comprises of ten members, and in fact, will have eleven members with Timor Leste joining in principle,” Retno said.
ASEAN leaders have barred the Myanmar junta from the bloc’s major meetings after the latter failed to implement the so-called five-point consensus, a set of requirements for a peaceful settlement in the country’s stalemate over military oppression.
When asked by the press if all foreign ministers would come to this week’s ministerial meeting, Retno said, “if God wills.”
Indonesia is currently assuming ASEAN’s rotating chairmanship.
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