ASEAN to Stay Clear of Myanmar Crisis

Source: The Hindu

The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Monday agreed to “make way” for Myanmar, a member-state, to “deal directly with the United Nations and the international community on its own.”

The decision to stay clear of Myanmar’s current political crisis was made at a late-night in-camera session of informal talks among the leaders of all the 10 ASEAN member-countries. These talks were to set the stage for the 13th ASEAN summit here on Tuesday.

Although Myanmar broke ranks with the other ASEAN members over its democracy challenge, the collective forum decided to make efforts to “prevent” the issue from “obstructing” the group’s huge agenda for the future. The agenda ranges from the “integration” of the ASEAN member-states to the adoption of a common charter and the establishment of a regional “community” among themselves.

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