Myanmar’s junta lashed back at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for demanding that it stop attacking civilians and calling an agreed peace plan without progress.
In a statement published Wednesday in the state-backed paper Global New Light of Myanmar, the junta called the ASEAN’s review as “not objective” and “one-sided.”
It called on ASEAN to “strictly adhere to the provisions and fundamental principles of the ASEAN Charter, especially non-interference in the internal affairs of the member states.”
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the 2021 military coup that ousted the civilian government, sparking mass protests and a bloody military crackdown on dissent.
Civilian ruler Aung San Suu Kyi was also charged with various offenses and sentenced to years in prison.
Rights groups have accused the junta of air strikes on rebel strongholds and civilian infrastructure.
The ASEAN’s five-point peace plan agreed with the junta generals was ignored as the military refuses to engage with its opponents.
“The conclusion is that there is no significant progress in the implementation of the five-point consensus,” Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi told reporters on Tuesday.
The country will also skip its scheduled chairmanship of the bloc in 2026.
The Philippines will chair instead, as the bloc wrestles with how to engage with the junta, whose leaders are banned from high-level ASEAN meetings.