Myanmar junta warns ASEAN against peace plan 鈥榩ressure鈥�

ASEAN foreign ministers meet in Jakarta on Oct. 27, 2022 to discuss the political crisis in Myanmar. (Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs/AFP)
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  • Myanmar has been in chaos since a coup in February last year, with more than 2,300 killed in the military鈥檚 brutal crackdown on dissent
  • Junta accuses ASEAN of 鈥榙iscrimination鈥� for not inviting Myanmar foreign minister to the Jakarta meeting

YANGON: Myanmar鈥檚 junta has warned a regional bloc working to defuse its political crisis that setting a timeframe for a peace plan could lead to 鈥渘egative implications.鈥�
Myanmar has been in chaos since a coup in February last year, with more than 2,300 killed in the military鈥檚 brutal crackdown on dissent, according to a local monitoring group.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has led so far fruitless efforts to solve the bloody impasse.
The bloc鈥檚 foreign ministers met in Jakarta on Thursday to discuss the crisis. The junta was not represented after it declined an invitation to send a non-political figure.
A peace plan agreed by Myanmar and ASEAN last year 鈥� which the former has largely ignored 鈥� was a 鈥減rocess,鈥� the junta鈥檚 foreign affairs ministry said in a statement late Thursday.
鈥淚nserting additional pressure by setting a timeframe will create more negative implications than positive ones.鈥�
It also accused ASEAN of 鈥渄iscrimination鈥� for not inviting the junta-appointed foreign minister to the Jakarta meeting.
ASEAN has said it is 鈥済ravely concerned鈥� over escalating human rights abuses, including the execution of four prisoners in July.
Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing has not been invited to an ASEAN leaders鈥� summit next month 鈥� for the second year in a row 鈥� and Myanmar鈥檚 top diplomat Wunna Maung Lwin was excluded from ministerial talks in February and August.
The ASEAN policy of 鈥渃onstructive engagement is no longer on the table,鈥� a junta-controlled newspaper said earlier this month.
鈥淎SEAN seems to be acting as a lapdog for the US.鈥�
The junta blames anti-coup fighters for the deaths of almost 3,900 civilians.