KUALA LUMPUR: After decades of turning a blind eye to the Myanmar junta’s authoritarian abuses, south-east Asian countries have announced that they could no longer defend the indefensible.

Malaysia’s foreign minister, Syed Hamid Albar, the chairman of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean), said the group’s fortunes were being held hostage by Myanmar, which has refused to initiate a transition to democracy despite repeated pledges to do so.

“Asean now has reached a stage where it is not possible to defend its member when that member is not making an attempt to cooperate,” Mr Syed Hamid said at a conference of Asean legislators.

He also urged China and India — who are investing in Myanmar, with little regard to its human rights record — to further pressure the junta, and said that although Asean would not intervene in Myanmar it would approve of UN action.

The UN Security Council has twice discussed Myanmar in the past few months, but Chinese objections prevent a formal resolution being passed.

The Philippines President, Gloria Arroyo, has already stated she wants to see tougher global action.—Dawn/The Guardian News Service