India hosts '1.5' informal Myanmar talks amid flurry of diplomacy

Critics say engagement undercuts ASEAN's freeze on generals

Yangon on April 10: Diplomacy toward Myanmar's regime is intensifying, clashing with ASEAN's official stance of excluding the military leadership. © Matt Hunt/SIPA via AP

THOMPSON CHAU, Contributing writer, and GWEN ROBINSON, Nikkei Asia editor-at-large

April 26, 2023 13:08 JST

TAIPEI/CHIANG MAI -- An India-hosted round of alternative negotiations with Myanmar has produced informal agreements to reduce violence on "all sides," curb transnational crime and expedite humanitarian aid to the conflict-wracked country, according to a source directly involved, cranking up pressure on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to adjust its own diplomacy.