Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim is set to hold talks in Bangkok, Thailand, on Thursday with Myanmar regime leader Min Aung Hlaing to push for a ceasefire extension, a meeting criticised by some groups battling the military in the quake-ravaged nation.

Anwar, as the current chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional bloc of 10 nations, has said he will meet Min Aung Hlaing on humanitarian grounds, although ASEAN has barred the Myanmar regime from its summits since April 2021.

“There’s a possibility of the junta exploiting these opportunities to build up legitimacy within the ASEAN framework,” said Sai Kyi Zin Soe, an independent political analyst based in Thailand.

After Myanmar’s military deposed an elected civilian government in a 2021 coup and sparked a civil war, ASEAN barred the ruling generals from its meetings for their failure to comply with the ASEAN peace plan.

But a powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.7 that struck Myanmar on March 28, killing more than 3,600, provided Min Aung Hlaing with a rare diplomatic opening, including a visit to Bangkok for key meetings in early April.

Two diplomatic sources in Thailand told Reuters that Min Aung Hlaing would return within a fortnight to meet Anwar in Bangkok.

One of the sources added that they would be joined by Thailand’s former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, whom Anwar has appointed a personal adviser in his role as ASEAN chair.

Malaysia’s embassy in Thailand and the Thai foreign ministry did not respond to queries about the Myanmar-related meetings in Bangkok, where Anwar is also set to hold talks with Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thaksin’s daughter.

Utmost caution

A number of anti-regime groups, including the shadow National Unity Government (NUG) and the Karen National Union, urged “utmost caution” regarding the meeting, which they said was being held under the pretext of delivering humanitarian aid.

“The military junta led by Min Aung Hlaing is a perpetrator of clear violations of the ASEAN five-point consensus,” they said in a statement on Wednesday, referring to the aforementioned ASEAN peace plan for Myanmar.

“Any unilateral engagement with the military leader – widely regarded as a terrorist – must be approached with the utmost caution.”

Prior to his visit, Anwar said he would seek to extend a ceasefire called since the quake, Myanmar’s deadliest natural disaster in decades that struck during a civil war which has displaced more than 3.5 million people and shattered the economy.

The military declared a 20-day ceasefire on April 2, following similar moves by resistance groups and the NUG, but has kept up airstrikes since, the U.N. and other groups have said.

“ASEAN … they’ve boycotted the participation of the junta since 2021,” added the analyst, Sai Kyi Zin Soe. “So now this meeting could really undermine that position.”

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

REUTERS