The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is holding a leaders’ meeting in Jakarta to discuss the ongoing situation in Myanmar.
Leaders of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Myanmar’s Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services and chair of the country’s newly formed State Administration Council Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing are expected to participate in the meeting.
Foreign ministers of Laos, Thailand, and the Philippines are attending the meeting as representatives.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told a news conference on Friday evening that it would be the first in-person meeting of ASEAN leaders since the Coronavirus pandemic broke out, which shows the leaders’ concern about the situation in Myanmar.
“The commitment of leaders to meet physically is a reflection of a deep concern about the situation in Myanmar and ASEAN’s determination to help Myanmar get out of this delicate situation,” she said.
The one-day closed door meeting is a follow-up to Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s talks with Brunei’s Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah as Chair of ASEAN, she said.
Around 4,400 police personnel have been deployed at 51 points across the Indonesian capital to secure the meeting. Roads around the ASEAN Secretariat where the meeting is held, are temporarily closed.
The meeting, Retno added, would be carried out by implementing maximum health protocols.
ASEAN said in a chair’s statement released at the Informal ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on March 2 this year that the regional organization was ready to assist Myanmar in a positive, peaceful and constructive manner.
Established in 1967, ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
