Vivian Balakrishnan

Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan spoke at length about the complexities of the situation in Myanmar, whose democratically-elected leaders were ...

He added that the Asean Charter does recognise situations where consensus will not be possible, and in those circumstances, it allows sufficient flexibility for the leaders to decide how to move forward. But he added that in practice, while knowing that consensus has to be sought, this creates an additional level of consultations, negotiations and compromises. Singapore maintains a principled position of disapproval, but while the political leaders of Myanmar are not represented at the foreign minister's level, that doesn't mean there is no communication or engagement. In April 2021, a special Asean meeting led to the creation of the Five Points Consensus. "I didn't think our participation in such a format would be helpful," Vivian said. Myanmar should also be able to access information available to Asean, as it is not keeping any secrets from Myanmar. But having said that, Vivian made it clear that "we do not believe" in foreign interference in domestic affairs. "This coup, two years now in the making, has not helped. Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines did not attend. 27, members of the Workers' Party sought clarifications about the situation in Myanmar following On the Thailand meeting, Vivian laid out a timeline of events. [meeting hosted by the Thailand foreign ministry](https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/myanmar-junta-minister-attend-talks-hosted-by-thailand-key-asean-players-absent-2022-12-22/) in Dec.