PHNOM PENH: Prime Minister Hun Sen has warned Malaysia's Foreign Minister not to be "too arrogant" after saying that his visit to Myanmar was arbitrary and unsuccessful. Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah had given an interview to reporters in Kuala Lumpur on 13 January, saying the ASEAN Chair, Prime Minister Hun Sen, should have consulted other ASEAN members first before departing on his trip to Myanmar.

While speaking at a meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo this morning, Prime Minister Hun Sen asked Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi to send a message to the Malaysian Foreign Minister to not be "too arrogant" because he has made remarks that can be considered inappropriate coming from other ASEAN leaders to the ASEAN Chairman. Prime Minister Hun Sen said that he considered the language used by Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah to be undiplomatic, arrogant and untrue.

He further informed the Indonesian side that his visit to Myanmar had achieved some tangible results, such as the extension of the ceasefire until the end of 2022 and the provision of humanitarian assistance to the people of Myanmar, which helps pave the way for the Special Envoy of the ASEAN Chair, the ASEAN Secretary-General, the ASEAN Food Center in charge of humanitarian assistance disaster relief, and relevant UN agencies.

He added that he already has some other ideas for the work ahead regarding Myanmar but has decided to let the ASEAN Foreign Ministers continue this work instead. He expressed hope that all ASEAN Foreign Ministers would meet in the near future to discuss some of these initiatives.

Prime Minister Hun Sen paid an official state visited to Myanmar as the 2022 ASEAN Chair on 7-8 January, to help find a solution to the ongoing crisis and bring the country back to ASEAN after almost a year of national conflict.