JAKARTA - Asean must adhere to its five-point consensus on resolving the Myanmar crisis, and engagements with just one stakeholder are not conducive to peace, Indonesia said on Monday.

Indonesia has stepped up its engagements with various stakeholders in Myanmar since it took over as Asean chair for 2023, Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs’ special staff for regional diplomacy Ngurah Swajaya said at a media briefing in Jakarta.

He reiterated Indonesia’s efforts in “non-megaphone diplomacy”, as Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi called it, or talks with Myanmar behind closed doors.

“In five months, Indonesia has done more than 75 engagements with Myanmar with various partners. And this engagement that is done includes the State Administration Council, the National Unity Government and the others.

“In fact, engagements have been quickly conducted after the 42nd Asean Summit,” he added, referring to the meeting that the grouping’s leaders had in May.

His comments came after Thailand’s caretaker government said it would engage in talks with the foreign minister of Myanmar’s military junta.

On Monday, Reuters reported that the foreign ministers of Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, Indonesia, Vietnam and Cambodia did not attend, with some sending junior representation. Besides Myanmar and host Thailand, Laos was the only country to send its top diplomat, its sources said.

Last week, Reuters reported that Thailand invited Asean foreign ministers to the meeting. 

Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan had said last Friday that “it would be premature to re-engage with the junta at a summit level or even at a foreign minister level”.

Regarding Thailand’s initiative, Mr Ngurah said: “Engagement with just one group alone is not aligned with the five-point consensus.”

Indonesia was not making any “qualifications” about the meeting that Thailand was staging, and whether or not it specifically was at odds with the peace plans, he said.

But he stressed: “At the 42nd Asean Summit in Labuan Bajo, all the leaders stressed that the five-point consensus is the main reference point for Asean to help Myanmar to leave its political crisis and to find a peaceful solution that is Myanmar-led and Myanmar-owned.”

Indonesia, as Asean chair in 2023, has vowed to do its best to improve the situation in Myanmar, which has been in turmoil after the country’s military overthrew the democratically elected government in a coup in February 2021.

In April 2021, Asean drew up a five-point consensus peace plan with Myanmar, but there has been little progress in restoring peace or quelling the post-coup violence that has killed thousands.

Asean’s position has been to ban Myanmar’s military junta from attending any of the bloc’s high-level meetings due to its failure to implement the peace plan, and inviting non-political representatives to attend instead.

Critics of the Thai initiative say it risks legitimising Myanmar’s junta and is inappropriate because it is outside the official Asean peace initiative.

Others have also questioned why Thailand called the talks now, when it is expected to have a new government in August after the pro-military coalition was soundly beaten in May 14 elections by progressive and populist parties.

Thailand on Monday justified hosting the talks, and said dialogue was necessary to protect its border with the strife-torn country.

On Sunday, Thai-language Nation TV quoted Mr Nantiwat Samart, secretary to the Thai minister of foreign affairs, as saying that Myanmar should not be completely isolated or cut off from Asean.

Mr Ngurah said Indonesia’s efforts to improve the situation in Myanmar is an ongoing process, but underscored the importance of consistent policy.

“We are confident that with the support of all Asean member states, we will make progress,” he said.