ASEAN Summit: US backs exclusion of Myanmar army chief, calls it 'completely justified'

Amid the ongoing Myanmar crisis, a senior US State Department official on Friday, 15 October, backed the exclusion of Myanmar’s military leader, Min Aung Hlaing, from an upcoming ASEAN Summit. Speaking at a press briefing, the US official said that it is “completely justified” to not allow Myanmar’s participation in the upcoming summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). They added that Washington is supporting all efforts to promote a peaceful resolution to the Myanmar crisis. 

"It seems perfectly appropriate and, in fact, completely justified for ASEAN to downgrade Burma's [Myanmar's] participation [in the summit]," the official said during a press briefing as per Sputnik. 

"We are supporting all efforts to promote a just and peaceful resolution to the crisis [in Myanmar], the restoration of democratic institutions and we fully respect ASEAN's decisions there,” the senior US official added. 

Myanmar’s military leader excluded from ASEAN Summit

The State Department official went on to say that additionally, the United States is also talking about downgrading the participation of Myanmar in future ASEAN summits and meetings. It is to mention that the statement from the senior US official comes after ASEAN members decided to exclude Myanmar’s military leader Min Aung Hlaing from participation in the summit. The decision was made in response to the Myanmar Army’s unwillingness to engage with the regional bloc to resolve the ongoing political and humanitarian crisis in the nation. 

According to Sputnik, the US, UK, Canada and the European Union (EU) on Friday extended their support to the ASEAN special envoy for Myanmar ahead of his trip to the Southeast Asian country. The declaration made by the aforementioned countries was also inked by New Zealand, Norway, South Korea and Timor Leste. The countries called on Myanmar to engage constructively with the ASEAN Special Envoy to implement aspects of the Five-Point Consensus swiftly for a peaceful resolution to the Myanmar crisis. 

It said that the signatories endorsed ASEAN’s efforts to “chart a course out of the current crisis in Myanmar. We welcome the prospective visit to Myanmar by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brunei.” Meanwhile, according to Nikkei Asia, Myanmar’s foreign ministry had earlier this week said that the military government was “committed to constructively cooperating” in the implementation of a five-point consensus.