It has been a busy few weeks in Naypyitaw. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen became the first head of government to visit Myanmar after the coup in February last year. His visit came on the heels of that of foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla in December.
Shringla’s visit was a mission to walk the tight rope between the junta and democratic forces, both of which found place in the ministry of external affairs' readout. But the Cambodian Prime Minister did not manage such a delicate balance. He was given a red-carpet welcome and did not meet the jailed state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi who has been in jail. This has come under severe criticism.
As a result, the casualty was the calling off the ASEAN foreign minister conference—the first under the chairmanship of Cambodia—that was scheduled to be held next week. A terse statement, put out by the Cambodian information minister, Khieu Kanharith, said the meeting was postponed, without announcing another date.
While the official reason, according to news reports, was that foreign ministers would face difficulty travelling to the summit, the real reason seems to be the discomfort over Hun Sen’s visit.
In October last year, the military junta leader Min Aung Hlaing was uninvited to the foreign minister’s retreat as no progress had been made on the five-point consensus by the ASEAN members. This time around, the Cambodian prime minister is believed to have extended the invite to the military junta to attend again—a position that other members have been less than happy with.
Indonesian Prime Minister Joko Widodo has made it clear on Twitter that unless progress was made on the ASEAN peace points, only non-military official representatives will be allowed in ASEAN meetings.
Hun Sen's approach dubbed as cowboy diplomacy has not gone down well with the other nine members. As Cambodia is currently the chair of the ASEAN, his high profile visit—used by the military as legitimacy—has put the other nine members in a difficult position. But he has made no bones about keeping the doors open for Myanmar. In a public appearance in December where he was criticised for his intention to travel to Myanmar, Hun Sen was firm.
“If you feel that strongly about it, then cut your diplomatic ties with Myanmar. If you don’t, then don’t come and try to blame me for trying to help. And if you cut your diplomatic ties with Myanmar, that’s your right to do so—but I intend to keep Cambodia’s embassy there open, as is our right as a sovereign state,” he has been quoted by news agencies.
Interestingly, Japan—which has made overtures to Myanmar—and China, which has also had an official visit to the country, has welcomed Hun Sen’s attempts at engaging the junta.
"China appreciates Myanmar's readiness to create favourable conditions for ASEAN's special envoy to fulfil his duty and [he] works toward effective alignment between Myanmar's five-point road map and ASEAN's five-point consensus," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin has been quoted as saying.
While the Cambodian Prime Minister’s visit may have divided ASEAN, it has also set the tone for engagement. Unlike the West, where the lines for diplomacy are much drawn harder, for countries in the region, like India no dialogue with Myanmar will be difficult to maintain. Especially, as the humanitarian crisis looms large. But diplomats will need to be skilled acrobats.
