VIENTIANE, Laos (ANN/THE STRAITS TIMES) – Amidst conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, and rising tensions between Beijing and Washington, Asean faces the crucial task of avoiding the strategic pitfalls seen in other global regions to maintain peace in Southeast Asia.
This was the message delivered by Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan on 27 July.
“The primary strategic challenge for Asean in today’s unsettled world is to remain united and coherent, focus on economic stability, and avoid the severe issues that have afflicted Europe and the Middle East. It’s too soon to declare that we are entirely safe,” he told reporters in Vientiane after the conclusion of the Asean foreign ministers’ meetings.
The discussions in Laos included top diplomats from Asean’s dialogue partners, such as the United States, China, Russia, and the European Union, bringing global conflicts to the forefront.
Israel’s bombardment of Gaza since Oct 7, 2023, also received close attention from Asean’s foreign ministers.
In a joint communique released on July 27 sharing their points of agreement on that and other subjects, the ministers expressed “grave concern over the dire humanitarian situation” in Gaza and “condemned all attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure”.
They also acknowledged the July 19 advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice that the United Nations should consider further action “required to bring to an end as rapidly as possible the unlawful presence of the State of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.
Dr Balakrishnan said: “My own view is that the situation with the Middle East continues to have a significant risk of escalation. And if you add the situation in Europe and the Middle East and the fact that it’s the same cast of states on opposing sides in both those arenas, it is a cause for concern.”
“But the point is South-east Asia – assuming we can maintain ourselves as an oasis of peace, stability and security – in fact, it’s got good prospects, good economic prospects, and that’s what we want to focus on,” he added.
Closer to home, the deepening crisis in Myanmar triggered by the 2021 military coup continued to feature in discussions in Laos.
Through the joint communique, the foreign ministers expressed their “deep concern” and “strongly condemned the continued acts of violence against civilians and public facilities and called for immediate cessation”.
Asean’s road map to peace, which has seen little progress amid the intensifying civil war there, would remain its “main reference” in trying to address Myanmar’s crisis, according to the document.
In his remarks to reporters, Dr Balakrishnan warned against external interference in Myanmar, and reiterated the need for “strategic patience” in the light of the complexity of the situation.
“Myanmar is a unique, complicated place,” he said, adding that external interference only complicates matters.
While external parties can provide humanitarian aid, tasks like national reconciliation, the release of political prisoners and real dialogue “need to be done within Myanmar”, he said.
“We need to be very careful,” he said. “For us in Singapore, we have conveyed to all the sides that we think this current arrangement with a military government is a dead end. It’s not going to achieve national reconciliation.”
Pointing out that the Myanmar military was not in control of large parts of the country as well as its borders, he said “the current arrangements are not tenable”.
But he warned that there was no quick and easy solution.
Singapore has kept lines of communication open to all Myanmar stakeholders about where it can help “at the right time, right place (and with the) right sequence of actions”, he said.
