Military must be part of solution in Myanmar -ASEAN

SINGAPORE: Any peaceful solution to the situation in Myanmar must include the military, the Association of South East Asian Nations has told a UN meeting.

Current ASEAN chair Singapore told a Security Council meeting Friday excluding the armed forces could result in more instability in Myanmar, where a bloody crackdown on protests last month left at least 13 dead and more than 2,000 locked up.

“It would be a grievous mistake to think that if the State Peace and Development Council (Myanmar’s ruling junta) left the scene tomorrow, all would suddenly be well and all problems would automatically be resolved,” said Vanu Gopala Menon, Singapore’s permanent representative to the United Nations.

Menon said the world must be “pragmatic” in dealing with the reclusive, military-ruled country.

“The military is a key institution in Myanmar that cannot be wished away. Any peaceful solution to the crisis will have to involve all parties, including the military,” he said, according to a transcript released by the foreign ministry here.

“If the military is not part of the solution, there will be no solution. If the process is mishandled, it could result in greater instability and more suffering for the Myanmar people.”

Despite its spotty human rights record, ASEAN admitted Myanmar in 1997 in the hope of inducing democratic reforms through constructive diplomacy.

Menon said Myanmar was not a homogenous state, noting the presence of various armed ethnic groups opposed to the central government.

“This should not be an excuse for delaying necessary steps forward. But neither do we want a Yugoslavia in Southeast Asia,” he cautioned, referring to the civil wars that led to Yugoslavia’s break-up in the 1990s.

The UN Security Council met in New York to hear a report by UN special envoy to Ibrahim Gambari on his recent mission to Myanmar after troops opened fire on protesters last month to suppress a civilian uprising, killing at least 13 people.

More than 2,000 were arrested.

Singapore, Sunday, AFP.