Vivian Balakrishnan to attend Asean Foreign Ministers' Retreat, will discuss Myanmar situation & other issues

Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan will be attending the Asean Foreign Ministers’ Retreat from Jan. 28 to 29 in Cebu, Philippines.

Vivian will be attending at the invitation of the Philippine's foreign secretary Theresa Lazaro, and the theme for 2026 will be "Navigating Our Future, Together".

2026 Asean Chair, the Philippines

The retreat will be the first high-level meeting hosted by the 2026 Asean Chair, the Philippines.

During the retreat, the Asean foreign ministers will discuss Asean’s priorities for 2026, take stock of cooperation with external partners, and exchange views on regional and international issues.

The Philippines is expected to have a substantive agenda during its chairmanship, and Singapore’s MFA said it intends to work with it and other member states to deliver on that agenda.

Vivian will also be having bilateral meetings with his Asean counterparts on the sidelines of the retreat.

Myanmar and the Five-Point Consensus

One of the issues that will be discussed is the ongoing crisis in Myanmar.

During the retreat, Vivian and his counterparts will hold an Informal Consultation on the Implementation of the Five Point Consensus (5PC), as well as the Extended Informal Consultation on the 5PC.

The 5PC is the mutually agreed-upon key framework to resolve the Myanmar crisis, which calls for, amongst several things, an end to violence, the release of political prisoners, and dialogue between the contesting sides.

After Myanmar agreed to the 5PC in 2021, it has declined to adhere to it, and as a result, Asean no longer invites its political office holders to attend Asean events, although Myanmar may send non-political representatives, such as civil servants.

The Informal Consultation on the Implementation of the 5PC refers to the “Asean Troika”, a collection of three Asean members, specifically the current, previous, and incoming Chairs of Asean.

In 2026, these are the Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore, respectively.

The Extended Informal Consultation adds the rest of the Asean member states to the mix at the foreign minister level, according to a 2025 paper by the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute.

Ongoing crisis

The Myanmar crisis began in 2021, after the Myanmar military disputed the results of a general election that saw the incumbent civilian government, led by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, win in a landslide.

Since then, the military, also known as the Tatmadaw, has been in fierce fighting against a coalition of ethnic armies and resistance groups, where the resistance engages in guerrilla-style fighting, and the Tatmadaw retaliates with heavy weapons and air strikes.

Since December 2025, the military government conducted a multi-phase election, meant to legitimise the current government, although the election is disputed by many factions, both internal to Myanmar and external, such as the European Union.

Top image via Ministry of Foreign Affairs