PM Lee says 'consistent rational policy' and patience are key for Asean to make progress on Myanmar peace plan
Speaking at the conclusion of an Asean summit, Mr Lee acknowledged that this is"very hard to do" and will take a long time, but added that it was difficult to see a solution without fulfilling the consensus.
"It talks about forming a special representative. It talks about humanitarian assistance. It talks about engaging all the parties and the special representative to engage all the parties,” he said.Mr Lee’s comments came at the end of the two-day 42nd Asean Summit in Labuan Bajo, Indonesia, where Myanmar was a central topic of discussion.
Asked if the current arrangement of inviting only non-political representative from Myanmar would essentially lead to a situation where there would only be nine Asean members, Mr Lee reiterated that Myanmar is still a member state. More broadly, Mr Lee said that"in a troubled world, we need Asean to be unified, to be cohesive, to be effec“That's why we're talking about upgrading our economic cooperation, talking about green economy, talking about the digital economy, upgrading our FTAs with New Zealand, Australia, with other countries as well,” he said.
Asean members last year agreed in principle to Timor Leste joining the grouping as its 11th member. This year, Timor Leste’s Prime Minister Taur Matan Ruak attended the summit as an observer for the first time. During the summit, the Asean leaders adopted a roadmap for Timor Leste’s membership of Asean, which sets out the requirements that need to be fulfilled before the young nation can join the grouping.
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