October 9-15, Myanmar and East Timor established diplomatic relations late last month, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced September 29.

The agreement to establish diplomatic ties was signed by Foreign Minister U Nyan Win and his East Timorese counterpart Mr Jose Luis Guterres September 26 in New York, on the sidelines of the annual United Nations General Assembly meeting.

East Timor, which became independent in 2003 after more than two decades of Indonesian rule, is seeking to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in next three years.

One of the preconditions for joining ASEAN, of which Myanmar is a member, is to establish embassies in all of the regional grouping’s member countries.
East Timor currently maintains embassies in only two ASEAN countries, Indonesia and Malaysia.