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Minister greets UN chief as uncertainty looms at UNGA77
Meeting discusses preparations for G20 Summit.
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o:p>Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi met United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday in a tête-à-tête to kick off her whirlwind tour ahead of the 77th UN General Assembly in New York, the United States.
The one-on-one meeting at Guterres’ office was the minister’s first bilateral event since arriving in New York on Friday. During the meeting, Retno broached the topic of Indonesia’s Group of 20 (G20) presidency activities while exchanging notes on the Myanmar coup crisis.
“Kicking things off at #UNGA77 with good discussion with UN Secretary General @antonioguterres at UNHQ, New York (18/09) on Myanmar and G20,” she tweeted on Sunday.
In preparation for the G20 Summit in Bali later this year, the minister was expected to meet with her counterparts from G20 nations over the course of her eight-day schedule.
However, due to funerals for the United Kingdom’s Queen Elizabeth II on Monday and for former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe next week, the schedule of speakers for the UNGA General Debate on Sept. 20-26 is not set in stone. This uncertainty will likely impact Retno’s bilateral activities in New York.
The UN secretary-general himself will not attend the Queen’s funeral on Monday as he will be convening the Transforming Education Summit from Sept. 16-19, his spokesperson announced in a regular briefing on Friday.
Guterres did, however, confirm that he would attend the G20 Summit in November, according to a Foreign Ministry press release issued in New York on Sunday.
Guterres’ office has yet to come out with a statement.
In addition to speaking about the G20, Retno and the UN chief compared notes on Myanmar during their meeting.
As the de facto leader of ASEAN and the incoming chair for next year, Indonesia did not hide its disappointment in Myanmar’s military regime, which has not shown enough political will in observing a Five-Point Consensus that ASEAN leaders mandated in April 2021.
At Sunday’s meeting, both Retno and Guterres expressed their shared concern and disappointment in the junta regime for “not showing a commitment to the 5PC”.
Despite increasing pressure to punish the junta regime, ASEAN has moved to bar political representatives of the junta from joining ASEAN meetings.
At the UN itself, the issue of Myanmar is being debated by the UN Security Council. For the second year running, the UN has also deferred judgement on the credentials for Myanmar’s permanent representative to the UN, effectively allowing the country’s previous appointee Kyaw Moe Tun to continue serving.
