This Is The Explanation Of Foreign Minister Retno Selecting Non-Megaphone Diplomacy During Communication With Military Regime To Myanmar Armed Ethnics

Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi gave a statement to reporters. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs/Abi)

JAKARTA - Indonesia as Chair of ASEAN continues to communicate with all parties in Myanmar in accordance with the mandate of the Five-Point Consensus (5PC), to stop violence and find a way out to resolve conflicts in the country, Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said on Friday.

Foreign Minister Retno said Indonesia as Chair of ASEAN communicated with various parties in Myanmar, both virtually and in the field.

"Our current focus is, first, to carry out engagements with as many stakeholders as possible. Engagements with all parties are a 5PC mandate. And for the past 4 months, we have carried out more than 60 engagements with various parties in Myanmar," explained Foreign Minister Retno when giving a statement in Jakarta, Friday, May 5.

"Engagements are carried out both in the form of virtual in-persons and in the form of field visits," he continued.

"Engagements are carried out with various stakeholders such as SAC (Myanmar military), NUG (shadow civilian government) and EAO (armed ethnicity). Also with key countries or neighbors such as India, RRT, US, EU, Japan, Thailand and also with the United Nations," explained Foreign Minister Retno.

He further explained that Indonesia encouraged an inclusive national dialogue in Myanmar to be carried out immediately. Although it is recognized, the difference in position among stakeholders in Myanmar is quite wide and deep.

"Indonesia will not give up as Chair and will continue to try to play a role as a bridge of various differences and will continue to carry out engagements," he said.

In the early stages of chairmanship, continued Foreign Minister Retno, Indonesia decided to take a non-megaphone diplomacy approach.

Not without reason, according to Foreign Minister Retno, the goal is to provide space for the parties to build trust, and so that the parties are more open in communicating.

"This approach was welcomed by the parties, including stakeholders in Myanmar. Non-megaphone diplomacy or Quiet diplomacy does not mean that Indonesia is not doing anything. What happened was the opposite, in four months Indonesia has done many things which hopefully will be the capital for further efforts," said Foreign Minister Retno.

Next, Indonesia voiced the importance of immediately stopping the use of violence which has recently increased in the Land of a Thousand Pagodas.

He emphasized that Indonesia as Chair of ASEAN strongly condemns the use of violence which has resulted in the increasing number of civilian casualties.

"Violence must be stopped. I repeat, violence must be stopped immediately. Without the stopping of violence, there will be no peace in Myanmar. And the safety of the Myanmar people must continue to be a concern for all of us," he stressed.

He added that regarding humanitarian assistance which is also mandated by the 5PC, the ASEAN Secretary General will coordinate and run by the AHA Center.

"There are two stages of humanitarian assistance. The first stage is related to life saving, which has been completed because it is related to COVID-19 relief. Entering the second stage (life sustaining). The second stage has experienced obstacles due to a lack of access to the AHA Center to reach people in need, especially in areas that are outside the control of the Myanmar military. There are developments in this humanitarian field which are currently still in progress," he concluded.