New Delhi: Thailand’s foreign minister Don Pramudwinai met with Myanmar’s jailed leader Aung San Suu Kyi in an unannounced meeting on July 9 in the capital Naypyitaw. He is the first foreign official to be granted access to Suu Kyi, who has been in solitary confinement for over two years since the junta captured power in Myanmar in a military coup in 2021. According to The Irrawaddy, the meeting took place at Naypyitaw Prison, where the ousted State Counselor is being held in solitary confinement. A high-ranking military official who is said to be a member of the Myanmar military regime’s governing State Administration Council accompanied Pramudwinai. “(The meeting) is an approach of the friends of Myanmar, who would like to see a peaceful settlement,” Pramudwinai told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of Southeast Asian foreign ministers in Jakarta, according to Reuters. He sought to underline that the objective of meeting Suu Kyi was in line with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)’s plan to achieve peace in the conflict-ridden country. The private meeting, Kanchana Patarachoke, a spokesperson for Thailand’s foreign ministry, said was held on Sunday and lasted over an hour. “She was in good health both physically and mentally. (Pramudwinai) briefed ASEAN on the retreat this morning,” Kanchana said. The access granted to the Thai foreign minister to meet Suu Kyi by the junta has raised eyebrows, given that the same requests from ASEAN and UN envoys were turned down by the military regime. While ASEAN member states have been opposed to engaging in talks with the junta for finding a political solution to the crisis in Myanmar, the current Thailand government has been in its favour. In fact, the meeting is seen as the Thailand government’s renewed push to make the junta part of talks given that it came just days before ASEAN foreign ministers meet in Jakarta, where Myanmar is expected to figure prominently. The meeting of the foreign ministers of the bloc is currently underway in Jakarta. Myanmar’s government-in-exile, the National Unity Government (NUG), has also questioned the junta’s “motivation” for allowing the visit. “Given the close ties between the junta and the Thai government, we are doubtful about the appropriateness of the meeting, assuming it actually happened,” NUG deputy foreign minister U Moe Zaw Oo told Irrawaddy. The NUG, which most Myanmar people consider as their legitimate government, is made up of ousted administration. It is opposed to engaging the junta for talks unless it releases all political prisoners, including Suu Kyi. ASEAN’s five-point consensus is the only official diplomatic process currently in place for achieving peace in Myanmar. However, there is frustration among its member states over the lack of progress in the peace plan. In June, Pramudwinai stoked controversy when he invited his ASEAN counterparts to a meeting aimed at re-engaging with Myanmar’s military rulers. Myanmar regime had said its foreign minister Than Swe attended the informal talks at the invitation of Pramudwinai. Indonesia, Singapore, and Malaysia had stayed away from the meeting, as they were opposed to the invitation extended to Myanmar’s military regime. While Indonesia had stated there was no consensus among ASEAN members to engage with the military regime leaders, Singapore said it would be “premature” to reengage with the junta at the summit level. However, the meeting was attended by foreign ministers, special envoys, ambassadors and representatives from ASEAN members Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, the Philippines, and neighboring countries China and India to “exchange views on matters related to the situation in Myanmar”. The 78-year-old Suu Kyi is convicted of a number of offences, including incitement, election fraud, corruption, and breaches of a state secrets law. She has called the charges absurd while appealing the convictions at the country’s Supreme Court. Meanwhile, the junta is facing severe criticism from across the world for the use of extreme force against civilians and political opponents.
— With files from ANI
