Myanmar’s military-appointed president, Min Aung Hlaing, will soon visit Vietnam, his fourth visit to an ASEAN member state since taking office in April, Myanmar state media reported today.

According to a report in the Global New Light of Myanmar, the former general will travel to Vietnam “in the near future” at the invitation of To Lam, Vietnam’s president and the head of the Communist Party of Vietnam. In addition to meeting with Lam, he will also meet with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Tran Thanh Man, the head of the National Assembly, and “receive representatives from economic organizations.”

“During the visit, the President will hold cordial discussions and exchange views on further consolidation of the existing friendly relations…  as well as cooperation across economic, cultural, and various other sectors,” the report stated.

The announcement, which has not yet been confirmed by Hanoi, comes shortly after Vietnamese Foreign Minister Le Hoai Trung traveled to Myanmar last week, the first time that a Vietnamese foreign minister has visited the country since the 2021 coup. During talks with Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw, he “discussed boosting bilateral trade and investment, as well as mutual support on the international stage,” The Irrawaddy reported, citing state media.

Trung also met Lower House speaker Khin Yi and Foreign Minister Tin Maung Swe, to whom he pledged “continued support for Myanmar at the U.N., ASEAN, and other international forums.” Trung also reportedly extended a formal invitation for Min Aung Hlaing to visit Hanoi.

The trip would be the former general’s fourth to an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member state since taking office as president in April, after visits to Laos in early July and Thailand last month and an upcoming trip to Cambodia in early September. He has also made state visits to India and China in June, and to Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan last month.

All of this reflects a concerted push by Min Aung Hlaing to consolidate Myanmar’s relationship with key partners. A top priority, which he mentioned in his inauguration speech in April, is to normalize relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Since late 2021, the 11-nation bloc has excluded the country from its summits over its failure to implement the bloc’s Five-Point Consensus conflict resolution plan. This plan calls for a cessation of violence, access to humanitarian aid, and inclusive dialogue involving “all parties” to the country’s conflict.

Min Aung Hlaing’s quasi-civilian government, which was formed after flawed multi-phase elections in December and January, has taken an increasingly defiant line toward ASEAN, dismissing the Five-Point Consensus as an unwarranted “interference” in its internal affairs and demanding its full readmission to the bloc.

At the same time, it has sought to engage directly with willing ASEAN member states, particularly Thailand, which has positioned itself as a bridge between Myanmar and ASEAN. During Min Aung Hlaing’s visit to Bangkok last month, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul “reaffirmed” Thailand’s commitment “to supporting and continuing to work closely with Myanmar for Myanmar’s full and equal participation in ASEAN mechanisms and processes.”

The fact that all four of Myanmar’s mainland Southeast Asian neighbors have now extended invitations to Min Aung Hlaing to visit reflects a growing regional fatigue with the Myanmar conflict, and a belief that “calibrated reengagement” (in Thailand’s phrase) is the best way to manage the effects of the civil war, if not to resolve it.

It also reflects a continuing divergence between ASEAN’s mainland and maritime member states on how to deal with Myanmar. Over the past five years, the mainland states have favored more engagement than maritime nations such as Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia, which have advocated a more robust regional response to the military coup in Myanmar. Whether and to what extent Myanmar manages to make inroads into this camp, which is reportedly also growing with the protracted deadlock inside Myanmar, may become clear in the run-up to the next ASEAN summit in November.