The return of Myanmar’s leaders to top meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) remains “far off,” the bloc’s special envoy said yesterday, despite the efforts of the country’s new military-backed civilian government to gain readmission.
Speaking at a press conference after an ASEAN meeting in Manila, Reuters reported, Philippine Foreign Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro said that Myanmar’s compliance with ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus plan for resolving the conflict was still being assessed.
“It’s still far off,” said Lazaro, who is serving as ASEAN’s special envoy on Myanmar this year, while the Philippines holds the bloc’s rotating chairmanship. “There have been a lot of questions on their compliance.”
She added that ASEAN plans to come up with benchmarks to measure progress on the implementation of the Consensus, and that “failure to meet those would constitute non-compliance,” Reuters paraphrased her as saying.
“It’s still the Five-Point Consensus that is still being the foundational document that we are looking at during the discussions with the foreign minister of Myanmar,” Lazaro added.
