It is obvious that these days, the events in Israel and Gaza, together with the situation in Ukraine, continue to capture headlines and everyone's attention. But for us in our region -- Southeast Asia -- it is the crisis in Myanmar that weighs heavily on the minds of Asean member states -- particularly Thailand as its next-door neighbour.
Myanmar is a vitally important country in terms of its immense economic potential and its strategic location, straddling Southeast and South Asia and bordering China.
The current crisis in Myanmar is complex and multi-layered. The political conflict between the military and the pro-democracy opposition has now become fully-fledged armed hostilities.
On top of that, the long-standing armed struggles of the various ethnic groups have intensified; they have been emboldened in their call for greater autonomy. Most unfortunately, the democratic and economic progress achieved before the crisis broke out almost three years ago has now unravelled. There seems to be no end in sight to this protracted conflict. The fear among the regional countries is Myanmar becoming increasingly fragmented and becoming an arena for major-power competition.
Given these scenarios, it is imperative that we work together to prevent a lost decade from becoming a reality. To this end, we need to contemplate how best to engage with Myanmar at many levels.
First, Asean, as the leading regional organisation, needs to be more actively and collectively engaged in helping to resolve the Myanmar crisis under the so-called Five-Point Consensus.
Second, our external partners, the neighbouring countries -- India, Bangladesh and China -- as well as other major external partners, such as Japan, the US, the EU, as well as the Republic of Korea and Australia, also need to be constructively engaged in support of the regional efforts.
Third, and most importantly, we need to encourage engagement in terms of genuine dialogue and reconciliation between the military and all the opposition parties and armed ethnic groups in Myanmar, without which there can be no lasting peace.
All of us, friends of Myanmar, must be supportive of a peaceful and political solution. But ultimately, the process must be worked out by the parties within Myanmar itself. It must be Myanmar-led and Myanmar-owned.
In our engagement, we must be clear as to the objectives and goals which is a peaceful, stable and unified Myanmar, in which the people can advance their aspirations for democracy and prosperity.
Indeed, we want to see Myanmar return to the path of democracy. We must continue to redouble our efforts, thinking of practical ways forward.
Thailand as Myanmar's immediate neighbour -- sharing a 2,400-kilometre common border -- feels it is incumbent upon us to step up to the plate in helping the country overcome its current challenges.
Our immediate goal must be to relieve the suffering of the Myanmar people through enhanced humanitarian assistance. Human security must be at the top of our engagement agenda. It is for this reason that we have launched our initiative on upscaling humanitarian assistance in areas along our common border.
In my talks with the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Myanmar, U Than Swe, we agreed to establish a working group for this humanitarian initiative to meet the pressing needs of the people along the border and further inland, particularly the growing number of those who have been displaced.
It is a bilateral initiative in the initial stage, with the Red Cross societies of two countries undertaking the responsibility for implementation. We will have a meeting of the bilateral working group later this month and we hope to begin this effort as soon as possible.
It is important that this mechanism be effective in terms of delivering humanitarian assistance, be credible in terms of reaching everyone in need and be transparent in terms of impartial monitoring. That is why we are proposing that the Asean Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management be brought in to monitor the distribution of humanitarian assistance.
Our initiative on humanitarian assistance is also a way of advancing humanitarian diplomacy. As we see it, humanitarian assistance leads to humanitarian pause and humanitarian dialogue. We believe that this approach, if it evolves as we hope, will help in the implementation of Asean's Five Point Consensus. We also hope that this initiative will complement the role of the Asean Special Envoy on Myanmar which has now been passed on to the Lao PDR. In fact, I have had talks with the special envoy, Ambassador Alounkeo.
Lastly, let me emphasise that our goal is a peaceful, stable and unified Myanmar contributing to the peace and prosperity of the region. Definitely, we wish to see Myanmar returning to the path of democracy that meets the aspirations of its people. In the meantime, it is imperative and urgent that we address the humanitarian needs of the people. We hope that this will be the building block for constructive dialogue and engagement within Myanmar and between Myanmar and the international community as the process goes forward.
Parnpree Bahiddha-Nukara is the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Thailand. This article is an excerpt from his speech given at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Jan 16.