Vietnamplus

Foreign ministers of the ten ASEAN member states convened an informal meeting via videoconference on March 2 to discuss the political crisis in Myanmar.

Vietnam’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Dang Dinh Quy has called on the international community to assist ASEAN in preventing risks of violence and helping millions of people in Myanmar who are bearing the economic brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic.

ASEAN members are arranging to hold a special foreign ministers meeting next week to discuss the political crisis in Myanmar in the wake of the coup there early this month, according to ASEAN diplomatic sources.

Vietnam requests Myanmar’s authorised agencies to ensure safety for Vietnamese citizens living in Myanmar and protect the legitimate interests of Vietnamese enterprises operating in the country in accordance with the two countries’ agreements as well as international law and practices.

A Malaysian court has allowed a temporary stay of deportation of 1,200 Myanmar nationals who were scheduled to be sent back homeland on February 23, according to an insider.

Vietnam hails Myanmar’s achievements in structural reforms and impressive economic growth in the past year, and wants to continue bolstering the economic-trade and investment ties with the nation in the time to come, a Vietnamese diplomat has said.

Myanmar’s military on February 16 promised to hold fresh elections and relinquish power, and denied the conduct of a coup.

Martial law was declared on February 8 in seven townships in Myanmar's second biggest city, Mandalay, officials said.

Myanmar has recently approved Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine against the new coronavirus, the Russian Direct Investments Fund said on official twitter account for the vaccine.

Trade between Thailand and Myanmar resumed in Thailand’s Kanchanaburi province on February 3 after Thai authorities temporarily eased COVID-19 restriction measures for two days.

Myanmar held the first meeting among newly appointed ministers after a recent major cabinet reshuffle by the military in Nay Pyi Taw on February 2, the Xinhua news agency reported, quoting a press release from the Military True News Information Team.

The Foreign Ministry has directed the Vietnamese Embassy in Myanmar to keep a close watch on the situation in the host country, while keeping close contacts with local agencies, regularly updating on local information and staying ready to roll out measures to protect Vietnamese citizens if necessary.

A majority of regional and state chief ministers in Myanmar were released on February 2 after the military's one-day detention.

As neighbours in the region and both are members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Vietnam has kept a close watch on the ongoing situation in Myanmar, Spokeswoman of the Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang has said.