Panu Wongcha-umKay Johnson
April 27, 2021
A woman prepares a placard out of crossed out portraits of Myanmar's junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing during protest against the military coup in Myanmar, in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 24, 2021 in this photo taken by Antara Foto. Antara Foto/Dhemas Reviyanto/ via REUTERS
Few had high hopes that a summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which counts Myanmar among its members, would produce any serious initiative to end the bloodshed after Myanmar's coup, with the junta leader himself in attendance.
Yet the summit's concluding "consensus statement" - accepted by all member states including Myanmar - did stretch the bounds of ASEAN's longstanding principle of non-interference in members' internal affairs.
It called for an end to violence and a dialogue among all parties - interpreted by some as an attempt to broker talks between the junta and Myanmar's parallel National Unity Government (NUG) - as well as the naming of an ASEAN envoy and a humanitarian aid mission.