KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has urged ASEAN member states to strengthen their collective resolve in addressing the ongoing crisis in Myanmar.
Anwar emphasised that the regional bloc must move beyond statements and transactional, noting that it should be transformative.
He stressed that civil conflict in Myanmar continues to be one of the most pressing and unresolved challenges facing Southeast Asia.
“The path ahead is to close ranks and act in unison in facing these challenges so that they do not weaken ASEAN as a bloc.
“As ASEAN Chair, Malaysia deems it a profound responsibility to mobilise every viable ASEAN mechanism and cooperate with all partners towards the de-escalation of violence, and further down the road, a Myanmar-led and Myanmar-owned peace process,” he said.
Anwar who is also Finance Minister, made these remarks in his keynote address at the 38th Asia Pacific Roundtable (APR), here today.
Also present were Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan, Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar and Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) Malaysia chairman Datuk Prof Dr Mohd Faiz Abdullah.
