DHAKA: Myanmar won a new diplomatic prize on Thursday for its dramatic political reforms, taking the helm of Southeast Asia’s regional bloc despite warnings from some critics that the move was premature.

The one-time international pariah was formally awarded the rotating chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for 2014 at the end of the group’s summit in the oil-rich sultanate of Brunei.

President Thein Sein said the theme of Myanmar’s chairmanship would be ‘moving forward in unity in a peaceful and prosperous community’, reports The Straits Times.

The former general has earned international plaudits and the removal of most Western sanctions for reforms that include freeing hundreds of political prisoners.

BDST: 1738 HRS, OCT 10, 2013
RoR/RIS