The Hindu : International : ASEAN defers Myanmar decision

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Apr 13, 2005

International

International

ASEAN defers Myanmar decision

By P. S. Suryanarayana

SINGAPORE, APRIL 12. The Foreign Ministers of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) agreed on Monday to defer a final decision on whether or not Myanmar should assume the chairmanship of the regional outfit for 2006.

The ASEAN agreed to ask Myanmar itself to decide "soon" whether it would indeed press its case for chairmanship, in the context of reservations from or even objections by some of the key dialogue-partners.

The postponement was agreed upon by all the 10 Foreign Ministers, including Myanmar's, at their informal "retreat" at Cebu in the Philippines. The move was, however, packaged in the diplomatic prose that "it would be best to decouple the two issues" - the question of Myanmar's turn to chair the ASEAN next year and the Associations' principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of its member-states.

The opposition to Myanmar's ASEAN chairmanship, especially in the Western quarters, is directly related to Yangon's continued detention of the democracy-campaigner, Aung San Suu Kyi, and its attitude towards "democratic reforms."

The Singapore Foreign Minister, George Yeo, said: "ASEAN Ministers expressed their frank views on the issue."

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

International