ISAS Briefs

As Myanmar’s icon of democracy, the Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, recently walked towards the Parliamentary Chamber to take her seat for the first time, a journalist asked her if it was going to be a historic day for her country. Her response was as laconic as it was profound: “Only time can tell”, she observed. And she is right! Myanmar is at a cross roads. Its future will hinge on choices it makes, the path it decides to take henceforth. What it expects from the international community is not direction, or advice or guidance with regard to the choice of the road. But support, empathy and understanding, and when asked for, aid and assistance, as Myanmar moves forward along the route of its own choosing. Myanmar must be allowed to be in the driver’s seat of its own destiny. Today that is the emerging consensus among the nations of the world.