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| Indonesian Foreign Minister Letno Masudi. © Reuters = News1 © News1 Reporter Jo So-young |
While Southeast Asian nations set out to arbitrate for a military coup in Myanmar, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar met with Indonesian and Thai foreign ministers on the 24th (local time).
According to the AFP news agency, Foreign Minister Unna Maung Lewin met with Indonesian Foreign Minister Letno Masudi and Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramatwinai in Bangkok, Thailand.
This is the first time the Myanmar military government has held diplomatic talks since the coup on the 1st.
“Indonesia has decided not to remain silent” at a press conference after the meeting and “Doing nothing is not an option,” said Singapore’s Straits Times.
“We ask all parties to refrain from using force to prevent bloodshed and casualties,” said Retno. “Indonesia will work with the people of Myanmar.”
He also made it clear to Foreign Minister Unna Maung Lewin that all countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should respect the principles of the ASEAN Charter, humanitarian approaches, and visits to detainees.
Minister Unna Maung Lewin is reportedly scheduled to meet separately with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chanocha and Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramat Winnai.
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| A protest against the military coup held in Yangon, Myanmar on the 17th. © AFP=News1 |
Previously, Indonesia set out to find an ASEAN-level solution to the Myanmar coup.
Over the past two weeks, Minister Retno has been conducting’shuttle diplomacy’ to resolve the Myanmar crisis, including visiting Brunei and Singapore and making calls with other Southeast Asian countries.
There have also been reports that Retno has proposed a plan to send a watchdog to hold a fair and comprehensive election in Myanmar.
However, the proposal angered protesters calling for the immediate release of Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi detained by the military and acknowledging the results of the general elections in November last year, which won the National League for Democracy and Peoples Alliance (NLD) of Suu Kyi advisers.
This is because it empowers the military’s position to hold the election again.
On that day, hundreds of protesters protested at the Indonesian embassy in Yangon, Myanmar for two days in a row, with pickets saying’Stop negotiations with the military government’ and’Do not support the dictator.’
In response, Minister Retno also canceled the planned visit to Myanmar.
Myanmar’s military government took power in a coup on the 1st, saying that serious corruption occurred in the general election in November last year.