THE Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar made strong objections to the remarks made by Malaysian Foreign Minister Mr Saifuddin Abdullah at the press conference in Bangkok on 10 August 2022 and at the ASEAN Day event held in Kuala Lumpur on 8 August 2022.

The Ministry strongly objects to irresponsible remarks by the Malaysian Foreign Minister encouraging the ASEAN Member States to engage with unlawful entities that are committing terrorist activities in Myanmar. Such reckless comments are a blatant attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of an ASEAN Member State by encouraging instability and acts of terrorism in the country, and those remarks are also in violation of the provisions of Article 2, paragraph 2(e) and (f) of the ASEAN Charter and Article 2, paragraph 7 of the Charter of the United Nations.

Malaysian Foreign Minister’s remark on bringing in non-ASEAN countries to the process of the implementation of the ASEAN five-point consensus is also inappropriate as it could undermine ASEAN centrality and can derail the works of the Special Envoy of the ASEAN Chair.

The Ministry strongly protests the remarks by the Malaysian Foreign Minister on the alleged lack of cooperation by Myanmar in the provision of humanitarian assistance by ASEAN which is in total ignorance of noticeable progress made by the ASEAN Coordinating Centre on Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA centre) in Myanmar and which also fail to recognize sincere efforts of the Myanmar government in facilitating the works of AHA Centre.

Any ASEAN Member State with a genuine intention to see the prevalence of peace and stability in Myanmar should avoid these kinds of remarks adversely affecting the national reconciliation in the country. In this regard, the Ministry strongly protests and objects to the irresponsible and repeated remarks of interference in the internal affairs of an ASEAN Member State by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar has sent a strong protest note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Malaysia on this matter.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Nay Pyi Taw

Date, 12 August 2022

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