With Singapore as the chair, Asean's every word and move must be meticulously crafted and choreographed. There can't be any loose ends. There is no exception when it comes to the delicate situation in Myanmar's Rakhine State where violent clashes erupted back in October 2016 have forced nearly 700,000 Rohingya Muslims to escape to Bangladesh.
The stakes are high for the chair at the coming Asean summit on April 28, which expects to come out with some tangible steps the regional grouping will take on the Rohingya crisis as a collective.
Myanmar's domestic development has always been a huge challenge for Asean to engage and manage, long before Nay Pyi Daw joined the group in 1997 and the eruption of the Rakhine turmoil. With its unique history and tradition coupled with the charisma of Aung San Suu Kyi, Asean's approach must be incremental and based on consensus. One must have a long-term view to understand Asean's behaviour.
