ASEAN looks inwards as Mideast crisis hits home

Southeast Asian leaders are expected to call for strengthened regional energy security and “secure and open sea lanes,” according to a draft document seen by AFP on Thursday. The meeting of the 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in the central Philippines has focused largely on solutions to the crisis in the Middle East that has sent fuel and food costs soaring in the region. While the draft statement does not specifically mention the Strait of Hormuz, which has been largely bottled up since US-Israeli strikes on Iran began on February 28, it will call for “the safe, unimpeded and continuous transit passage of vessels and aircraft in straits used for international navigation.” The document also includes a range of proposals aimed at promoting greater energy independence, including an expansion of the ASEAN power grid, a shift to renewable energy, and even the exploration of nuclear power. Closer to home, the civil war in Myanmar remained centre-stage on Thursday, with ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn telling reporters the possibility of a meeting with the country's foreign minister was on the table. Myanmar has been formally excluded from summits such as the one in Cebu since its military junta snatched power in a 2021 coup that triggered a bloody civil war and crackdown on dissent. While Myanmar’s junta earned praise from the Philippines this week for its decision to transfer democracy figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi to house arrest, the bloc has yet to achieve a consensus on a return to the fold for the country. “The foreign ministers had an exchange of views, including a proposal to have a meeting with the foreign minister of Myanmar,” Hourn told reporters on the summit sidelines on Thursday. “There will be something, maybe it will be an online meeting.” Thursday also saw the late addition of previously unannounced talks between the leaders of Thailand and Cambodia. The Southeast Asian neighbours have maintained an uneasy truce since signing a ceasefire agreement in late December after a border dispute triggered clashes that killed dozens of people and displaced more than a million others. Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian counterpart Hun Manet both pledged on Thursday to task their foreign ministers with continuing talks aimed at achieving a lasting peace. Both sides have traded accusations of truce violations since the ceasefire was signed. Charnvirakul told a news briefing that they had agreed to work closely on measures aimed at “restoring trust and gradually rebuilding our bilateral relations.”

ASEAN looks inwards as Mideast crisis hits home

The civil war in Myanmar was also high on the bloc’s agenda, amid suggestions of a possible meeting with the junta’s foreign minister

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