The junta's inaction on a five-point plan it agreed in April with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was "tantamount to backtracking", Erywan Yusof, the bloc's special envoy to Myanmar, told a news conference. The ASEAN roadmap included a commitment to dialogue with all parties, allowing humanitarian access and ceasing hostilities. Malaysia's top diplomat Saifuddin Abdullah on Twitter said that without progress, "it would be difficult to have the chairman of the SAC at the ASEAN summit". Myanmar junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun did not respond to calls from Reuters on Wednesday. Last week he told a news conference that Myanmar was cooperating with ASEAN "without compromising the country's sovereignty".

Source: bd News24 October 06, 2021 05:37 UTC