ASEAN chair Indonesia urges political solution to Myanmar crisis

ASEAN chair Indonesia on Wednesday urged a political solution to the Myanmar crisis as the bloc started a second day of talks to form a united position on the coup-wracked country.

Myanmar has been ravaged by deadly violence since a military coup deposed Aung San Suu Kyi's government more than two years ago, unleashing a bloody crackdown on dissent.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations has long been decried as a toothless talking shop, and it remains split over diplomatic attempts to resolve the crisis.

"Only a political solution will lead to a durable peace," Retno Marsudi told ASEAN foreign ministers in her opening remarks on the second day of talks in Jakarta.

"We are still very much concerned to see the continuing and increasing violence in Myanmar. We strongly urge all stakeholders to denounce violence as this is paramount to build trust."

Indonesia's top diplomat was reiterating the bloc's position that a resumption of dialogue between Myanmar's warring parties and a negotiated political pact would be the only way to bring an end to more than two years of turmoil.

But ASEAN efforts to kick-start the five-point plan that calls for an end to violence and restarting peace talks have been fruitless, as Myanmar's junta ignores international criticism and refuses to engage with its opponents.

The bloc's initiatives are limited by its charter principles of consensus and non-interference.

Ministers were still hammering out a joint position on Myanmar on the second day of talks but the communique would be issued by the end of the meeting on Wednesday, a Southeast Asian diplomat said.

In an early draft of the joint communique seen by AFP, the Myanmar section was left blank.

ASEAN has tried to show a united front at its official high-level meetings from which Myanmar is barred, but Thailand last month hosted the junta's foreign minister for controversial "informal talks" that further split the bloc.

On Wednesday, Marsudi appeared to criticise that meeting, which Indonesia did not attend.

"The implementation of the five-point consensus should remain the focus of ASEAN," she said. "Any other efforts must support the implementation of the five-point consensus."