Following the military-administered election, Min Aung Hlaing officially assumed the presidency in April 2026, framing the transition as the constitutional fulfillment of a return to civilian governance. Concurrently, Min Aung Hlaing has pushed back against ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus, a plan for resolving the country’s conflict, arguing that the 2021 roadmap requires modification to reflect the operational realities of Myanmar’s newly established civilian administration. Min Aung Hlaing then traveled to Beijing in June for a summit with President Xi Jinping. The next destination on Min Aung Hlaing’s itinerary was Thailand, where he was welcomed with full state honors this week. Following Min Aung Hlaing’s high-profile bilateral visits to Beijing and New Delhi, ASEAN faced the prospect of becoming a marginalized observer of events in its own backyard.