Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim will meet with the head of Myanmar’s military junta in Bangkok this week, to push for the extension of a ceasefire and discuss earthquake relief efforts.
During a monthly meeting of the Finance Ministry yesterday, Anwar announced that he would meet Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who led a military coup in February 2021, in the Thai capital on April 17.
According to a report by the New Straits Times, the meeting is intended to “facilitate assistance, including the provision of medical aid” in the wake of the powerful earthquake that hit central Myanmar on March 28. Anwar will be taking part in the meeting in his capacity as chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for 2025.
The ASEAN bloc has excluded the junta from its high-level meetings, including its biannual summits, but Anwar said that the devastation wrought by the 7.7 magnitude quake justified an exception.
“While the Five-Point Consensus remains a prerequisite for ASEAN–Myanmar cooperation, this meeting is intended to facilitate humanitarian aid in light of the severe earthquake disaster they are currently facing,” Anwar told the meeting.
At the same time, Anwar added that he would also propose during the meeting that the ceasefire announced by the military junta on April 2 be extended (it comes to an end on April 22), and that attacks on resistance groups and other political opponents be halted. The junta’s opponents accuse it of breaching the ceasefire on numerous occasions since its announcement. “During my meeting with him on April 17, I will push for the ceasefire to be extended,” Anwar said, according to Reuters.
The earthquake has caused considerable destruction across Myanmar, causing chaos and destruction across Myanmar’s central dry zone, destroying bridges, roads and thousands of buildings. The destruction is particularly serious in Sagaing Region – the epicenter of the quake – and in the nearby Mandalay, Magwe, and Naypyidaw regions. Serious impacts have also been reported in Bago Region and parts of Shan State. which has killed more than 3,600 people, according to official junta estimates,
Like many ASEAN nations, Malaysia has offered aid and dispatched rescue workers to the quake zone. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, the government offered 10 million ringgits ($2.3 million) in rescue funds and deployed 50 personnel from the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team in Sagaing Region. It has also agreed to set up a temporary military field hospital.
The trip will be Min Aung Hlaing’s second visit to Bangkok in the past month, after his controversial invitation to, and attendance at, the 6th BIMSTEC Summit on April 3-4. He also visited Russia and Belarus in early March. As such, it is likely to be criticized by opponents of the military regime, who argue that any official engagement with the junta strengthens its claim to Myanmar’s legitimate government.
Unsurprisingly, the military junta’s propaganda outlets have cheered the upcoming visit. One post by the military-aligned Views of Myanmar account on X said that after his recent trips, which aimed at “strengthening international ties,” Min Aung Hlaing “is now set to engage ASEAN leaders in Bangkok.” Another post on the account declared that the meeting “marks a potential step forward in Myanmar’s affairs, possibly aiding the restoration of democracy ahead of the upcoming December general election.”
In his comments yesterday, Anwar made no mention of the planned election, which the military recently confirmed would take place in December, which has been roundly criticized as an exercise designed to preserve its own rule behind a civilian mask. In January, foreign ministers warned Myanmar’s military that it should prioritize peace over its election plans, saying that the latter must “involve all stakeholders.”
While there is much to criticize in ASEAN’s approach toward the civil war in Myanmar, the earthquake has placed it in a difficult situation. Many of the population centers most impacted by the disaster in Mandalay and Sagaing regions are under the junta’s control, and some degree of cooperation is probably unavoidable if ASEAN is to play any significant role in the relief efforts. This contrasts very much from the situation in, say, Kayin (Karen) State, where ethnic resistance groups have long controlled large territories accessible from Thailand, and where channeling aid to civil society groups outside the junta’s control is relatively straightforward (even if politically complicated). The real test for ASEAN, and whether its approach can adjust to Myanmar’s conflict and keep pace with the situation inside the country, will be how it responds to the junta’s bogus planned election in eight months’ time.
