The United States wants Southeast Asian leaders to play a "more deeply engaged role" in efforts to put Myanmar back on a democratic track after a coup last year, the top U.S. official for Asia said on Wednesday ahead of President Joe Biden's meeting with leaders from the region this week.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has barred Myanmar's junta from attending its summits until it sees progress in a five-point "consensus" agreed last year in hopes of ending violence that has erupted since the generals seized power and detained the country's democratically elected leaders, including Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
