The United States today urged India to isolate Myanmar’s military leadership after the junta’s foreign minister was allowed to appear virtually alongside regional heads of government at a summit in Sri Lanka.
The request came on the last day of a summit of South Asian and Southeast Asian heads of government, when top junta diplomat Wunna Maung Lwin appeared virtually in lieu of his boss, Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, according to The Wire.
Wunna Maung Lwin’s appearance at the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, indeed) was only possible after organizers opened the event to non heads of state and remote participation.
That prompted the United States, which last week formally accused Myanmar’s military of committing genocide, to urge India BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) ministerial meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka, of seven member countries including Thailand and India.
Washington urged the bloc to diplomatically isolate Myanmar’s junta and follow the ASEAN approach of allowing only “non-political” representation.
The decision to allow Myanmar to participate in its first summit in four years was made by all seven members of the bloc, despite widespread calls on social media to bar the representative of the military-led country.
Following the military takeover in Myanmar and the detention of all civilian leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, ASEAN agreed on a five-point consensus to find a solution to the problem. Myanmar’s military operation against the Rohingya minority was labeled “genocide” by the United States last week.
