The Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN met in Laos on Wednesday as it seeks to advance a stalled bid to resolve a crisis in Myanmar and cool tensions in the South China Sea, days ahead of a gathering of top diplomats from the world's biggest powers.
The meeting of the foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will be followed by two summits in Laos on Saturday set to address key global issues that will be attended by officials from the United States, European Union, Japan, China, Russia and more.
ASEAN's foreign ministers will discuss the so far fruitless efforts to end a crippling conflict that has morphed into a civil war in military-run Myanmar that the United Nations says has displaced 2.6 million people.