Myanmar Spring Chronicle – October 26 Perspective
(MoeMaKa, October 27, 2025)
ASEAN Summit Statement on Myanmar — and Its Impact
The annual ASEAN leaders’ summit is now underway in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the bloc’s 2025 chair. A distinctive feature this year is the attendance of global leaders from the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia—an effort to underscore ASEAN’s growing prominence.
Regarding Myanmar, ASEAN again did not invite the junta leader; only the regime’s permanent secretary from the foreign ministry was allowed to attend, while leaders from all other ASEAN member states are present.
Beyond ASEAN members, attendees include: U.S. President Trump; Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak; India’s Prime Minister Modi; China’s Premier Li Qiang; Australia’s Prime Minister Albanese; Japan’s new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi; South Korea’s President Lee Jae-myung; and New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.
Although Myanmar is an issue ASEAN says it must address, the organizers have clearly tried to keep it from dominating a summit that also features non-ASEAN global leaders.
On October 26, ASEAN issued a statement on Myanmar with 28 points: 15 “assessments” and 13 “decisions.” The assessments largely note—based on the rotating chair’s evaluation report—that there has been no significant progress in implementing the Five-Point Consensus. ASEAN says it will continue to hold to that consensus and press for its implementation.
ASEAN urges all armed groups in Myanmar to reduce violence, refrain from attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, and, echoing appeals made after the earthquakes that struck the Mandalay/Sagaing area early this year, to pursue ceasefires.
The statement also encourages regional and international partners to step up humanitarian assistance through the AHA Centre, and it backs the ASEAN Special Envoy’s efforts to promote inclusive dialogue among all stakeholders before the election. From such talks, ASEAN urges Myanmar to develop a home-grown peace plan led by Myanmar itself.
Until there is meaningful progress on the Five-Point Consensus, ASEAN will maintain the decision to bar political-level representatives of the junta from high-level meetings.
In short, the statement centers on three things:
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acknowledgement of weak implementation of the Five-Point Consensus,
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a push for inclusive dialogue before any election, and
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calls to scale up humanitarian aid via the AHA Centre.
While civil war and humanitarian need are severe inside Myanmar, the statement also flags the need to address online scam syndicates along the border regions.
Domestically and internationally, the junta is marketing its planned election as a path out of crisis. Yet, as the KIA leadership recently warned, an election could deepen division and complexity rather than resolve anything.
With political parties, activists, and civil groups suppressed, widespread fighting, and systematic human-rights abuses and mass killings, many inside and outside Myanmar believe that holding an election now will not solve the crisis. Some neighboring states—China and India—are nevertheless supportive of proceeding with the vote.
Just days earlier, Malaysia’s foreign minister said ASEAN cannot block Myanmar’s election.
For Myanmar people, it is time to recognize that solutions are unlikely to come ready-made from ASEAN, the United States, or the United Nations. Hopes that such bodies will “fix” Myanmar’s crisis are, in practice, unlikely to materialize.