Myanmar's President Min Aung Hlaing is pressing ahead on two fronts simultaneously -- the battlefield and diplomacy. For the latter, the Myanmar president and former junta leader aims to secure a return to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) fold by the next summit in November. Whether he succeeds will depend on the bloc's overall verdict.
Asean leaders have already delivered a blunt message to the new military-backed regime, calling for "meaningful progress" that, for Asean leaders, is the meaningful implementation of the Five-Point Consensus (5PC), the regional framework adopted in 2021 to resolve the Myanmar crisis. No more dilly-dallying.
