Malaysia’s bold diplomacy on Myanmar: From chair to catalyst of Asean peace — Phar Kim Beng

JUNE 1 — As Chair of ASEAN 2025, Malaysia has taken a courageous and long-overdue step in addressing the most intractable humanitarian and strategic crisis in the region: the civil war in Myanmar. By inviting multiple conflict parties from Myanmar — including representatives from the National Unity Government (NUG), Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs), and potentially even interlocutors from the Tatmadaw — to Kuala Lumpur for informal dialogue, Malaysia is not only testing the limits of ASEAN diplomacy, but reshaping them.

This is a move few dared to contemplate, let alone execute. Since the 2021 coup d’état by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar has descended into a vortex of violence, repression, and fragmentation. The country is now a collapsed state in all but name. Over 3.5 million civilians have been displaced. Thousands have been killed, tortured, and imprisoned. Economically, the kyat has collapsed. Politically, the junta’s planned elections — absurdly branded as a return to democracy — have no credibility domestically or abroad.

Against this grim backdrop, Malaysia’s offer of hosting informal consultations in Kuala Lumpur signals a subtle yet substantive shift: it reframes ASEAN’s traditionally cautious diplomacy into a more daring, inclusive, and multi-stakeholder engagement strategy.

From five-point consensus to ‘Kuala Lumpur process’?

Since the coup, ASEAN’s formal approach has revolved around the Five-Point Consensus (5PC), agreed upon in Jakarta in April 2021. That document — calling for an immediate cessation of violence, inclusive dialogue, humanitarian access, and the appointment of a special envoy — has been flagrantly ignored by the junta.

But rather than retreat in despair, Malaysia is innovating within ASEAN’s diplomatic space. Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s announcement at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on May 31 that Malaysia would convene informal dialogues in KL shows leadership where others have hesitated. Anwar’s own past as a prisoner of conscience lends moral weight to his engagement with Myanmar’s democratic opposition.

Crucially, Malaysia is not excluding anyone. The door is open to all parties — whether armed, exiled, or militarised. This is a notable departure from the regional bloc’s earlier focus on only engaging the junta in formal channels, or worse, remaining fixated on the illusion of “non-interference.”

The strategic logic of Malaysia’s engagement

Malaysia’s approach is underpinned by three strategic logics.

First, stability in Myanmar is inseparable from regional security.

Conflict in Myanmar has spilled over into its neighbours. Thailand and India have faced refugee inflows. China has suffered attacks on its business interests in Myanmar’s border regions. Bangladesh continues to shoulder the burden of Rohingya refugees, with over 1 million still stranded in Cox’s Bazar. Malaysia hosts over 100,000 Rohingya and at least 200,000 Myanmar nationals more broadly. Peace in Myanmar is not a moral concern alone; it is a matter of national and regional interest.

Second, Malaysia is filling a moral and diplomatic vacuum left by ASEAN.

Despite rotating chairmanships, no ASEAN country has yet succeeded in bridging the chasm between the junta and its opponents. Indonesia made valiant efforts in 2023 but was constrained by consensus politics and its own transition of power. The Philippines, preparing for the 2026 chair, has taken a hardline pro-Western view that risks excluding dialogue. Malaysia, situated in the middle ground, offers a balanced yet firm moral position, emphasising democracy and human rights without provoking total rejection from Naypyidaw.

Third, Malaysia is proving that ASEAN centrality does not mean ASEAN conformity.

The KL dialogue initiative proves that ASEAN members can lead while still respecting the bloc’s core principles. This is a lesson in creative diplomacy. Malaysia is not undermining ASEAN consensus but augmenting it with initiative, vision, and action. The convening power of Kuala Lumpur can help translate ASEAN’s 5PC from paper to practice, one informal conversation at a time.

A shift in diplomatic philosophy

This effort marks an important pivot in Malaysia’s diplomatic philosophy under Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Unlike previous administrations that saw diplomacy in transactional or ceremonial terms, Anwar’s foreign policy is anchored in what can be called principled pragmatism. It respects geopolitical realities — including the need to maintain dialogue with China, India, and the United States — but also champions the moral imperatives of justice, freedom, and peace.

This is not without precedent. Malaysia under Tun Hussein Onn supported Cambodia’s coalition government-in-exile in the 1980s. Under Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, it helped broker peace between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Philippine government. Under Najib Razak, Malaysia was a signatory to the Framework Agreement on the Bangsamoro in 2012. What we are witnessing today is the continuation — and elevation — of that tradition.

Challenges ahead

That said, the risks are real.

The junta may see Malaysia’s initiative as a threat to its legitimacy. Other ASEAN states may resist turning the informal KL talks into an institutional process. Western donors, keen to isolate the junta entirely, may criticise Malaysia for appearing to “engage all sides.”

But these are manageable tensions. Malaysia has already made clear that the process is suggestive, not binding. The goal is not to supplant ASEAN’s 5PC, but to supplement it. Indeed, the invitation to include all stakeholders can be seen as a faithful interpretation of the 5PC’s call for “inclusive dialogue.”

What is most important is that the voices of the victims — the Rohingya, the displaced, the political prisoners, the ethnic minorities — are finally heard and empowered in a process where they are no longer objects of negotiation, but agents of peace.

The way forward

Looking ahead, Malaysia should take three further steps to consolidate this bold initiative:

1. ⁠Institutionalise the KL dialogues as an annual track 1.5 platform under the auspices of a semi-official regional think tank.
2. ⁠Expand participation to include Myanmar civil society, regional faith leaders, and international humanitarian organisations such as the ICRC and Médecins Sans Frontières.
3. 3Propose to ASEAN a rotating “Friends of Myanmar” caucus, similar to the Friends of the Mekong, that includes ASEAN members, the EU, and countries like Japan and Qatar — who have shown interest in mediation.

Malaysia has turned ASEAN chairmanship from a ceremonial stewardship into a platform for real diplomacy. By inviting all parties in Myanmar’s crisis for dialogue in Kuala Lumpur, it is showing what leadership looks like in a divided and disoriented region.

There are no guarantees. But in diplomacy, boldness often counts more than certainty. If peace in Myanmar is ever to be achieved, it will be because someone dared to act while others remained spectators. Malaysia has just made that move.

Let the dialogue in Kuala Lumpur be remembered not as a footnote, but as a foundation.

* Phar Kim Beng is a professor of ASEAN Studies, International Islamic University Malaysia.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.