Indonesia has for months been quietly engaging key stakeholders in Myanmar’s conflict, as well as neighbors India, Thailand and China, in an effort to kick-start a peace process as violence intensifies, Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs Retno Marsudi said yesterday.
Marsudi earlier told Reuters exclusively that Jakarta, as chair of the ASEAN, had launched a quiet effort to make a breakthrough in the crisis, with its diplomats having held more than 60 “engagements” with all parties involved.
Those included the junta, ethnic minority armies and a pro-democracy shadow government, she said.
Photo: Reuters
Speaking later at a press conference, Retno said it was vital to secure the trust of all those involved.
“Indonesia is using non-megaphone diplomacy; this aims to build trust with all stakeholders, so they want to talk to us,” she said.
“Quiet diplomacy does not mean we did not do anything. In fact, for the past four months, Indonesia has done many things,” she added
The Indonesian move is the first major effort to bring to the table all the key players in Myanmar’s conflict and push for the implementation of a peace “consensus” that its top general agreed with the bloc two years ago.
“We tried to be as inclusive as possible,” Retno said. “Indonesia continues trying to play a bridging role to reduce a deep and sharp gap among the stakeholders.”
Representatives of the Myanmar junta and two armed ethnic groups did not respond to requests for comment.
A spokesperson for the government-in-exile, the National Unity Government (NUG), said it is cooperating with the ASEAN chair as it is “trying for a peace dialogue.”
An Indonesian foreign ministry official confirmed the move to engage all stakeholders had the support of ASEAN members.
Myanmar has been wracked by violence and economic turmoil since the military seized power in a coup in 2021 and launched a violent crackdown on opponents, some of whom fled overseas to form the NUG.
Others joined armed resistance groups nationwide, which are allied with the NUG and some of the ethnic minority armies in fighting the junta.
ASEAN leaders have been losing patience with the junta over its failure to implement the peace consensus and its continued attacks on opponents. The bloc has since late 2021 banned the junta from attending its high-level meetings until progress is demonstrated.
Discussing next week’s ASEAN leaders’ summit, Retno confirmed that Myanmar’s generals would again be barred.
She also said Indonesia had hosted 195 ASEAN meetings so far, which were dominated by concerns over the Myanmar conflict and regional tensions between rival powers the US and China.
Alongside Indonesia’s quiet diplomacy, government and think-tank representatives from Myanmar and its neighbors, including India and China, held talks in New Delhi late last month as part of a secretive effort to resolve the Myanmar crisis.
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
RSS