Myanmar junta chief to join leaders' summit in Thailand, seeks bilateral meetings, sources say

FILE PHOTO: Myanmar's military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing attends a press conference following talks with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia, March 4, 2025. Pavel Bednyakov/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Myanmar's junta chief Min Aung Hlaing will attend a regional leaders' summit in the Thai capital next week and is seeking bilateral meetings on the sidelines, three sources with direct knowledge said on Friday.

The trip to the April 3-4 BIMSTEC summit in Bangkok will be a rare foray by Min Aung Hlaing to a Southeast Asian country since he seized power in Myanmar in a 2021 coup that led to a civil war. He is the subject of western sanctions and is barred from meetings of the Southeast Asian bloc ASEAN for failing to implement an agreed peace plan.