Mohamad Ready To Negotiate With Myanmar Foreign Minister Regarding Crisis

VIENTIANE, Oct 11 (Bernama) — Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan will take the initiative to negotiate with his counterpart from Myanmar, U Than Swe, regarding the crisis in the country that has persisted since the military coup in February 2021.

He stated that the junta has begun to soften its stance and is opening the door to negotiations following pressure from several armed separatist groups in the country, which have launched attacks on security forces, particularly in the Arakan and Shan regions.

“But before I meet with him (Than Swe), let the operational team negotiate first, and they (the operational team) will report to me, and I will report to the Prime Minister (Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim)."

"Alhamdulillah, this is a very positive development because in the past they completely shut the door; they did not want to negotiate at all," he said.

He made this statement to the Malaysian media after the conclusion of the second day of the 44th and 45th ASEAN Summits and related meetings, here late Thursday night.

Asked whether he would meet with Than Swe, who is also the Deputy Prime Minister of Myanmar, during Malaysia's chairmanship of ASEAN next year, Mohamad said he hopes the operational team can initiate preliminary negotiations before the end of this year.

"We are not forcing them (the junta), but they are the ones who want to negotiate. They have already sent us signals that they are indeed waiting to negotiate with Malaysia. So, when Malaysia takes over the chairmanship next year, it will make it easier for us," he said.

Mohamad noted that the crisis in Myanmar is one of the main topics of discussion at the summits, with leaders of the 10 ASEAN member countries continuing to emphasise the Five-Point Consensus (5PC) as the primary basis for negotiations.

The crisis in Myanmar has also drawn the attention of the international community, with ASEAN member countries expressing concern over the impact of the turmoil that has caused refugees from the country to enter neighbouring regional countries. Malaysia currently hosts approximately 200,000 Myanmar refugees.

Approximately 4,000 people have been killed and nearly one million residents have been displaced since Myanmar's civilian government was overthrown in a military coup in February 2021.

Mohamad stated that Malaysia, Laos, and Indonesia are currently continuing the troika mechanism in an effort to restore democracy in the troubled country.

The Troika, introduced by Indonesia during its chairmanship of ASEAN last year, generally refers to three selected member countries tasked with managing a particular issue to ensure continuity in addressing that issue.

In addition, Mohamad stated that the conflict in Gaza and the Middle East was also discussed at the summit, with ASEAN member countries condemning the repeated attacks by the Israeli regime, which have now spread to Lebanon.

He said this was also emphasised by the Prime Minister during his meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken here on Thursday, where he requested the country's intervention to stop Israel's atrocities.

"It seems that no concrete answer was provided by Blinken. He merely responded that all parties, including the US, want to see this stopped immediately and not escalated.

"But Israel is so arrogant, refusing to listen to anyone. We hope that the allied countries supplying weapons and all assistance to them, will now understand Israel's true nature," he added.

More than 42,000 people have been killed since Israel launched attack on Gaza on Oct 9, 2023, the majority of whom are women and children, and over 97,700 have been injured, according to local health authorities.

-- BERNAMA