Sources: ASEAN leaders delay talks on Myanmar's return

详细摘要

Sources say leaders from member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have postponed discussions on whether to readmit Myanmar to the bloc's key meetings.

Sources say leaders from member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations have postponed discussions on whether to readmit Myanmar to the bloc's key meetings.

ASEAN leaders held a summit in the Philippine capital of Manila on Sunday.

Analysts were closely monitoring whether the participants would talk about the possibility of Myanmar's full-fledged return to main ASEAN meetings.

The country's leaders and cabinet ministers have been barred from attending such gatherings since the military coup in 2021.

The sources said some member countries raised conciliatory views during the closed-door summit. But the sources said other members argued that they had seen little progress on the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus. ASEAN leaders and Myanmar's military agreed to the consensus after the coup. It includes the immediate cessation of violence in the country.

No details have emerged yet on what the summit participants discussed about making rules to prevent conflicts with Beijing in the South China Sea. Some ASEAN countries have territorial disputes with China in the waters.

The gathering took place against the background of the rapid development of artificial intelligence, as well as issues such as the situation surrounding Iran.

Ferdinand Marcos Jr., president of the summit's host nation, gave a speech at its opening ceremony.

Marcos called for ASEAN countries to unite. He said the bloc is facing the question of whether its "institutions are prepared for a more complex security environment."

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