Putrajaya: Asean must be firm with Myanmar as the feeling is that the grouping has been held hostage by that country’s military junta, said Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar.

Syed Hamid, whose recent mission to Myanmar failed, is to submit a report on the visit to the Asean Foreign Ministers annual retreat in Ubud, Bali, tomorrow.

“I think there is a feeling that Myanmar is dragging us down in terms of our credibility and image,” he said in an interview here yesterday.

“Even when we try to have sideline meetings during Apec or Asia-Europe summits, we need to search for a special formula to include Myanmar.

“There is that feeling that we are being held hostage by Myanmar on some of the progress.

“We started with a very soft approach (towards Myanmar) but it is getting firmer. Asean is the last hope before people get impatient and stronger views are taken.”

Syed Hamid visited Myanmar last month after Asean leaders decided to send a delegation to pressure the junta into producing tangible results from its promised democratic reforms.

The trip was a failure because he was unable to meet opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

“Asean must discuss this matter frankly. We are not asking Myanmar to change radically; we are asking it to evolve towards change,” he said.

“The Myanmar authorities are supposed to have a road map and implement it.

“But you must be believable. If you have a good story to tell, you must not be fearful of the things you have done.

“They must convince people and not only Asean, that their plan is on track, that it is really going to happen.

“But we are not seeing it as yet.”

Asked whether Asean believed that Myanmar was implementing its reforms, Syed Hamid said the grouping had yet to verify it.

“At present we have nothing to hold on to. We have been listening to them, we have been told by them, but we cannot verify for ourselves,” he said.

“We told them if we cannot verify, how can we argue convincingly for them?”

However, Syed Hamid said, Asean was not giving up hope on Myanmar and would continue to encourage it towards democracy.

“We do not want any Asean member to decide that it will leave Asean, that is not a solution. We do not want Myanmar isolating itself,” he said, adding that countries with strong ties with Myanmar should assist.

Asean secretary-general Ong Keng Yong had asked China and India to persuade Myanmar towards reforms as both countries are major trading partners of Myanmar and exercise great influence over its economy.

Asked whether Asean was getting impatient, Syed Hamid replied in the affirmative, saying the ball was in Myanmar’s court.

“At one point or another Asean has to make a decision,” he added.