BANGKOK, Dec 23 (NNN-Bernama) — The informal consultation on Myanmar held in Bangkok on Thursday focused on facilitating the provision of humanitarian assistance as well as exploring other approaches that could support the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus (5PC).
Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson Kanchana Patarachoke said the consultation was a non-ASEAN meeting but intended to complement ASEAN’s ongoing collective efforts to find a peaceful political resolution to the situation in Myanmar,
“The open-ended informal consultation was meaningful with ministers engaging in free-flow and proactive discussions including the opportunity to hear from Myanmar and to exchange views on finding the exit strategy and pathways towards a return to normalcy in Myanmar,” she said in a statement.
The informal consultation was held on the sidelines of the Thai-Myanmar bilateral talks in Bangkok.
Foreign ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Deputy Foreign Minister of Vietnam as well as ministers responsible for international cooperation and humanitarian assistance joined in the talks.
It was one of a rare international appearance by Myanmar’s representative at the informal consultation as Myanmar’s generals are barred from high-level gatherings including ASEAN Summit for failing to bring in positive results.
Meanwhile, Kanchana said the consultation was the first time in more than a year that foreign ministers had a face-to-face discussions with the sole purpose of providing a diplomatic space for candid and constructive discussions and pragmatic engagement, particularly for neighbouring countries most affected by the situation.
“Thailand will continue to render full support to Indonesia, as the incoming ASEAN Chair, in continuing to move forward the progress made under Cambodia,” she said.
In a statement, the Foreign Minister of Myanmar said during the informal consultation, Myanmar’s delegation “cordially exchanged views” on the matters of Myanmar’s cooperation with ASEAN for the implementation of the 5PC, providing correct information, reflecting the actual situation on the ground, and reiterating Myanmar’s position on the recently adopted ASEAN leaders’ review.
It said the delegation highlighted the progress of the delivery of the humanitarian assistance to Myanmar under the 5PC with the cooperation of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre).
“Myanmar delegation explained the “terrorist activities” committed by the unlawful and terrorist organisations namely the so-called National Unity Government (NUG) and the People’s Defence Force (PDF) were obstructing Myanmar government’s efforts to restore peace and democracy.
“The delegation urged ASEAN member states to denounce terrorist activities of NUG and PDF and to discourage any moral, material and financial support to the terrorist organisations,” it said.
— NNN-BERNAMA