The Myanmar junta’s foreign minister, Wunna Maung Lwin, attended the fifth Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) in Colombo, Sri Lanka this week, according to DVB.

Sri Lanka’s foreign secretary, Admiral Jayanath Colombage, invited the military representative, claiming that it would be preferable to engage the junta rather than “isolate” Myanmar.

The Myanmar military joined BIMSTEC, which looks to further economic cooperation between south Asian and southeast Asian nations, in Dec. 1997.

The group's decision to invite the military to participate in discussions runs contrary to the policy of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) which, since the middle of last year, has denied Myanmar’s State Administration Council leaders seats at its summits.