The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on Tuesday excluded the Burmese junta’s defense minister, General Mya Tun Oo, from the summit that began on Monday in Cambodia and will last until Wednesday.
The meeting was attended by the defense ministers of the different countries that make up the organization, in addition to the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, and his Chinese and Indian counterparts, Wei Fenghe and Rajnath Singh, respectively.
The lack of progress on the part of the military junta ruling the country since the coup d’état that took place in February 2021 has led to its exclusion from the event held in Siem Reap, as reported by the ‘Khmer Times’ newspaper.
ASEAN has recalled that Burma could have had an «apolitical» representative to attend the summit, but has recalled that the junta has refused at all times and has insisted on sending one of its generals.
Previously, the organization barred junta chief Min Aung Hlaing and his foreign minister, Wunna Maung Lwin, from attending the bloc’s summits for not following the ‘road map’ presented by ASEAN to pave the way for peace and stability.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has called for the junta to be completely banned from the bloc’s events. Since 2021, some 1.1 million people have been forced to move in the face of the junta’s crackdown, which has resulted in more than 2,500 deaths and nearly 16,000 arrests.
