COMMENT | Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s recent call for Myanmar’s military junta and the National Unity Government (NUG) to meet at the negotiating table is strategically misguided.

These are not two opposing political factions that can reconcile through compromise. They represent diametrically opposed worldviews.

The junta seeks to entrench a brutal, centralised authoritarianism rooted in military supremacy and ethnic domination. The NUG and its allies envision a democratic federal Myanmar built on equality, decentralisation, and justice.

Indonesia tried a similar approach during its Asean chairmanship: behind-the-scenes diplomacy, engagement with junta officials, quiet talks. The result?