ASEAN's special envoy in Myanmar to push for political consultations

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ISTANBUL (AA) – A special envoy appointed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) arrived in Myanmar on Monday for a three-day visit.

Prak Sokhonn, also the deputy prime minister and foreign minister of Cambodia, is leading a delegation to Myanmar, which has been under military rule since February last year.

This is the second high-profile visit by a Cambodian official to Myanmar, following Prime Minister Hun Sen's January visit, the first by any foreign leader since the Burmese military deposed the elected government.

According to Cambodia’s Foreign Ministry, “the first visit of the Special Envoy to Myanmar will be aimed at creating a favorable condition leading to the end of violence as well as the utmost restraint by all parties; distributing humanitarian assistance and encouraging the political consultations/dialogues among all parties concerned,” state-run AKP News reported.

The Sokhom-led delegation will also “take into consideration as basic documents the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus, the outcomes of the working visit of Prime Minister Hun Sen, the outcomes of the discussions between Prime Minister Sen and Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and the outcomes of the recent ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Retreat.”

Last month, ASEAN's top diplomats met in Cambodia amid proposals to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar.

Myanmar, one of the regional bloc's 10 members, did not attend the meeting.

The military junta did, however, allow the ASEAN special envoy to meet with members of the opposition party ahead of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' summit.

The country's military seized power on Feb. 1, 2021, deposing the government led by Aung San Suu Kyi over allegations of fraud in the 2020 general elections.

The military takeover triggered mass protests in Myanmar, with the junta's forces killing more than 1,500 people in a crackdown on dissent, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a local monitoring group.

Lately, the protests have died down.