The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) holds a leaders' meeting to discuss the ongoing situation in Myanmar at the ASEAN secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 24, 2021. (PHOTO / XINHUA)

Further contacts, visits and talks between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Myanmar can speed up the implementation of a five-point consensus reached last month to resolve the Myanmar crisis, experts said.

Zaw Min Tun, spokesman for Myanmar's State Administration Council, said the country's Foreign Ministry will hold talks with ASEAN officials this week, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Lina Alexandra, a senior researcher at the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Jakarta, said: "If this meeting is going to discuss the five-point consensus, regarding the implementation, of course it's really a good opportunity for the ASEAN to clarify ... regarding the visit to Myanmar."

"It is very critical for the ASEAN to speed up the process" of the implementation of the consensus, said Alexandra.

The meeting of the ASEAN's leaders in Jakarta on April 24 saw agreement on a five-point consensus－ending the violence in Myanmar, opening constructive dialogue among all parties concerned, appointing a special ASEAN envoy to facilitate the dialogue, with a visit by the envoy to Myanmar, as well as the provision of humanitarian assistance to the strife-torn nation

A summit of the bloc's leaders in Jakarta on April 24－the first face-to-face meeting among ASEAN leaders since the onset of the pandemic－was attended by Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar's commander-in-chief of defense services and chair of the country's newly formed State Administration Council.

The meeting saw agreement on a five-point consensus－ending the violence in Myanmar, opening constructive dialogue among all parties concerned, appointing a special ASEAN envoy to facilitate the dialogue, with a visit by the envoy to Myanmar, as well as the provision of humanitarian assistance to the strife-torn nation.

Myanmar has witnessed mass protests after its military took state power and announced a yearlong state of emergency on Feb 1.

Street protests by tens of thousands demanding the restoration of civilian government have led to clashes with security forces, despite the military's pledge to hold "free and fair" elections once the state of emergency is over.

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Alexandra said an immediate priority "is to appoint the ASEAN special envoy in order to carry out the implementation of the five-point consensus, including the visit (to Myanmar)".

"The special envoy will be the head of the so-called taskforce that will do the implementation of the five-point consensus in order to achieve the outcomes－stopping the violence, coordinating the delivery of humanitarian assistance and facilitation－together with the (ASEAN) Chair," Alexandra said.

The special envoy may visit Myanmar and meet with all parties concerned to know what Myanmar needs and what kind of assistance ASEAN, a 10-nation bloc that includes Myanmar, can provide.

Important visit

Noting that there are reports that Brunei－which currently chairs the regional bloc－will send its foreign minister to visit Myanmar after the Ramadan Muslim festival, which concluded last week, Kavi Chongkittavorn, senior fellow at the Institute of Security and International Studies at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University, said the visit would be important.

If that happens, ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi can be part of the delegation.

"Their joint visit is significant as they will have first-person assessment of the situation on the ground," Kavi said.

Kavi said the ASEAN chair needs to make it clear to Myanmar's leaders that ASEAN centrality will be at stake if the consensus is not fully implemented.

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"(A) sustainable solution to the Myanmar crisis will take time," said Kavi, noting that there must be a complete cessation of violence" for any serious dialogue to make progress. At present, ASEAN is preparing action plans in terms of providing humanitarian assistance to communities affected in the conflict, he said.