Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) commended Indonesia, as this year's ASEAN Chair, for intensifying efforts to engage all parties and stakeholders in Myanmar to reduce conflict.

"We appreciated the Chair’s efforts in intensifying engagement with all relevant stakeholders in Myanmar to build trust and confidence, create a conducive environment, and bridge gaps and differences leading toward an inclusive dialogue for a comprehensive political solution," according to the statement from the ASEAN foreign ministers.

The statement was conveyed in the Joint Communique of the 56th ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting.

In the Joint Communique, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers stated their position to continue to refer to the Five-Point Consensus (5PC) in handling the Myanmar crisis.

The 5PC calls for putting an end to violence, holding dialogue with all stakeholders, appointing a special envoy to facilitate mediation and dialogue, allowing the ASEAN to provide humanitarian assistance to the people of Myanmar, and allowing the ASEAN special envoy to visit and meet with stakeholders in Myanmar.

"We discussed the developments in Myanmar and reaffirmed our united position that the Five-Point Consensus (5PC) remains our main reference to address the political crisis in Myanmar," they stated.

Hence, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers agreed to support sustaining the engagements to push for the implementation of the 5PC in its entirety, in line with the ASEAN Leaders’ decision at the 42nd ASEAN Summit.

"We called for continued support of the External Partners, including the UN and neighboring countries of Myanmar, to work with ASEAN for concrete implementation of the 5PC," they stated.

In the Joint Communique, the ASEAN Foreign Ministers also condemned the ongoing violence in Myanmar.

"We strongly condemned the continued acts of violence, including air strikes, artillery shelling, and destruction of public facilities, and urged all parties involved to take concrete action to immediately halt indiscriminate violence, denounce any escalation, and create a conducive environment for the delivery of humanitarian assistance and inclusive national dialogue," they said.

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Reporter: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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