LABUAN BAJO, Indonesia  — During the ASEAN summit in Labuan Bajo, Indonesian President Joko Widodo admitted that no progress has been made to resolve the civil unrest in Myanmar, calling for an end to the violence.

Widodo, who chairs ASEAN this year, referred to a peace plan proposed by the bloc in 2021 that urged an immediate end to the violence and dialogue among contending parties to be facilitated through an ASEAN special envoy.

However, Myanmar's military-led government refused to take action to implement the plan, resulting in the exclusion of the country's ruling generals and their appointees from the bloc's summit meetings. This move has been protested by the generals, who claim that it goes against ASEAN's policy of non-intervention and decision-making through consensus.

Despite Widodo's call for unity, the ASEAN leaders seemed to be divided on the issue of Myanmar's crisis, as some recommended a softer approach. The closed-door meeting, known as a "retreat," was held at a bayside hotel conference room with Myanmar's chair left vacant.

The ASEAN, which was founded in 1967, has faced increasing pressure from the international community to take a stronger stance on the ongoing crisis in Myanmar.

However, the differing views among the ASEAN members made it challenging to reach a consensus on how to address the situation.

Some members suggested easing the punitive measures against Myanmar's ruling generals, including allowing its top diplomat and officials to attend the summit meetings.

According to an internal report seen by  media, some members of ASEAN have suggested that the time for isolating Myanmar's military leaders has passed.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim expressed his frustration at ASEAN's inability to address the crisis in Myanmar.I

n a video posted on his Twitter account, he stated that the bloc had been unable to resolve contentious issues and was stuck with the principle of non-intervention. Ibrahim has previously stated that approximately 200,000 people have fled to Malaysia to escape the situation in Myanmar.

Anwar Ibrahim suggested that while ASEAN has traditionally adhered to the principle of non-interference, a new approach may be necessary in order to find a way to address the crisis in Myanmar. He proposed that a new vision with greater flexibility could help ASEAN navigate the situation and find a path forward.

During the summit on Wednesday, ASEAN leaders strongly denounced an attack on a humanitarian aid convoy that had been arranged by the bloc for displaced individuals in Myanmar, and demanded that the military government immediately end the violence and abide by a peace plan.

The attack, which occurred in Myanmar's eastern Shan state over the weekend, targeted the convoy as it was delivering aid and transporting diplomats from Indonesia and Singapore. While a security team accompanying the convoy returned fire and a vehicle was damaged, no injuries were reported, according to state-run television MRTV. Notably, Myanmar's top general, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, was once again not invited to attend the summit, marking the second consecutive year he has been excluded from the gathering of ASEAN leaders due to the country's ongoing political crisis.

According to an ASEAN report obtained by a news agency, some members suggested that Myanmar's military-led State Administration Council should be reengaged and brought back to ASEAN foreign ministers' meetings and summits.

However, it was not clear which countries were advocating for leniency towards Myanmar. The report also mentioned that ASEAN might be experiencing "Myanmar fatigue," and patience, flexibility, and creativity were necessary because there would be no quick solution to the crisis.

ASEAN leaders had stressed that the crisis should not impede the organization's progress in building a regional community.

Besides Myanmar, the territorial disputes in the South China Sea, involving China and several ASEAN members, were also high on the summit's agenda. The ASEAN leaders plan to issue a post-summit communique calling for self-restraint in the disputed region to prevent miscalculations and confrontations, echoing previous statements that criticized China's aggressive actions without naming it.

The military government's violent crackdown on dissent since seizing power has resulted in the deaths of over 3,450 civilians and the detention of thousands more. The brutal military airstrike in April, which killed more than 160 people, many of them children attending an anti-army ceremony, was described as a "war crime" by Human Rights Watch.

The ASEAN report expressed concern over the increase in transnational crimes such as human trafficking and illegal drug production originating from Myanmar. It also urged all parties to stop the influx of arms and financial funding into Myanmar, which only worsens the conflict.