ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Myanmar’s relations with its regional neighbours: Japan and the ASEAN states. Its principal objective is to briefly situate these two relationships historically and to outline how they have been rebuilt and strengthened after the government of President U Thein Sein embarked on reforms in 2011. As the chapter will demonstrate, following several years during which bilateral relations had suffered, the Japanese state enthusiastically re-engaged Myanmar as a major provider of ODA. On the back of the political transition, Myanmar’s ties with other ASEAN members have also expanded and improved. The transition has also allowed Naypyitaw to stand within the Association as a moral equal, even though the complex issue of the self-identifying Rohingya Muslims has proved a sensitive one, especially in bilateral relationships with Muslim majority ASEAN states.
