February 18, New Delhi — Thailand hopes to bring Myanmar back into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) almost five years after a military coup, Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said on Wednesday after meeting his Myanmar counterpart.
Sihasak and Myanmar Foreign Minister Than Swe held talks in southern Thailand. The 11-nation ASEAN grouping has excluded Myanmar's top junta leaders from its main summit since shortly after a military coup in 2021 that toppled the first democratic administration in half a century and sparked nationwide conflict and repression.
Meanwhile, Myanmar, which is run by the military, held a three-phase election from December to January, the first after the coup.