KUALA LUMPUR — Malaysia will lead a regional delegation to Myanmar next month after the junta scrapped its state of emergency, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan announced on Friday.

Mohamad told reporters the trip will “most likely” take place on September 19 and include the foreign ministers of Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

“I want to get a clear picture for me to bring to the attention of the Asean leadership in October,” he said, referring to the Association of South-east Asian Nations’ year-end summit.

Malaysia currently chairs the bloc, which has tried to increase pressure on member state Myanmar’s junta, including by barring its leaders from summits, over the ongoing bloodshed.

But the Asean has so far been fruitless in its diplomatic efforts to end Myanmar’s conflict, triggered by the junta’s ousting of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, sparking a many-sided civil war.

the coup and touted plans for an election in December. 

Opposition groups said they will boycott the vote, while a UN expert has branded the exercise a “fraud” designed to legitimise the junta’s continued rule.