Myanmar misses ASEAN summit after military leader excludes it.

Southeast Asian leaders began their annual Myanmar-free summit on October 26 in a diplomatic stalemate over the exclusion of the military-led nation from group meetings.

Myanmar skipped the summit in protest after the regional bloc - the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, known as ASEAN - banned its highest general from attending its meetings . The group's refusal to allow Gen. Minister Aung Hlaing for representing Myanmar at the summit was his harshest rebuke to the country's military rulers since the generals toppled civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in February. Brunei, which is chairman of the 10-member bloc this year, invited Myanmar's top-ranking veteran diplomat Chan Aye as a "non-political" representative, but she did not attend the meeting. said two diplomats. The diplomats requested anonymity as they are not authorized to speak to the media.

Myanmar's foreign ministry pledged at the end of October to challenge ASEAN's unprecedented decision to cut its attendance at the three-day virtual summit, which is being held on video due to coronavirus concerns. The ministry said it would only accept representation from the country's highest general, who heads its current government and military council, or a ministerial-level representative. The talks will be joined by other world leaders, including the President of the United States. Joe Biden and the leaders of China and Russia, and are expected to highlight the worsening crisis in Myanmar as well as regional security and economic concerns. Biden's participation will be the first time since 2017 that a U.S. leader has attended the ASEAN summit.

Myanmar's foreign ministry vowed at the end of October to challenge ASEAN's unprecedented decision to cut its attendance at the three-day virtual summit, which is being held on video due to coronavirus concerns. The ministry said it would only accept representation from the country's highest general, who heads its current government and military council, or a ministerial-level representative.