New Delhi: Brunei second foreign minister Erywan Yusof, who is ASEAN special envoy to Myanmar, said on Saturday he will take up the mission soon.
Erywan made the statement as countries of the group wrapped up a series of meetings this week.
ASEAN foreign ministers agreed to appoint the Brunei diplomat as the special envoy after Myanmar’s Junta approved his appointment during a special online meeting on Wednesday.
Leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations had agreed in April to send a special envoy to Myanmar in the wake of the February 1 coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi led democratically elected government.
Brunei currently holds the rotating ASEAN chair.
Referring to an agreement reached by the group and China on the preamble to the code of conduct on the South China Sea, Erywan told reporters in Bandar Seri Begawan that the meetings between ASEAN and its dialogue partners were productive and there have been progress in drawing up a “code of conduct” to avert clashes in the South China Sea between its members and China.
Some ASEAN countries and China have been in dispute over the South China Sea as Beijing has built artificial islands with military infrastructure in the sea, home to some of the world’s busiest sea lanes, claiming sovereignty over almost the entire maritime area.