Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan will make a two-day visit to the Philippines from Wednesday (Jan 28) to attend an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) retreat for foreign ministers and related meetings. In a statement on Tuesday, Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said the visit, from Jan 28 to 29, is at the invitation of the Philippines Secretary of Foreign Affairs Theresa Lazaro. Apart from the foreign ministers' retreat, Dr Balakrishnan will also attend the informal consultation on the implementation of the Asean Five-Point Consensus, and the extended informal consultation on the consensus. The consensus was issued by Asean leaders following their meeting in April 2021. It calls for the immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar; constructive dialogue to seek a peaceful solution; the appointment of a special envoy to facilitate mediation of the dialogue process; humanitarian assistance; and visits by the special envoy to meet with parties in the ongoing Myanmar conflict.  Read more