Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul called on Tuesday for a ‘calibrated re-engagement’ with Myanmar, ahead of his scheduled meeting this week with Myanmar junta chief turned president Min Aung Hlaing.

Background

Anutin was speaking at the headquarters of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the Indonesian capital Jakarta. Myanmar was plunged into turmoil in February 2021 when the military, led by Min Aung Hlaing, ousted an elected government led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking protests that expanded into a protracted civil war, killing some 100,000 people and displacing millions.

ASEAN barred Myanmar’s top officials from attending high-level political summits in response. Anutin said in a policy speech that ASEAN’s Myanmar peace initiative, known as the ‘Five-Point Consensus,’ remains the bloc’s guiding framework to manage the strife. The initiative includes a cessation of violence and the delivery of humanitarian aid.

Anutin is scheduled to meet with Min Aung Hlaing in Thailand on August 6 and 7. The Thai prime minister said ASEAN’s principles of non-interference remain fundamental but ‘they must be applied to the flexibility and pragmatism needed to preserve unity.’

Original reporting: Appleton, WI News Feed (HLL/CB) — read the source article.