BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, (Reuters) – A summit of Southeast Asian leaders began on Tuesday without a Myanmar delegation. The junta leader had been excluded from the meeting for failing to implement a regional peace agreement and because the ruling military declined to send a junior representative.

Brunei (ASEAN chair) and the secretary-general of the bloc did not mention the non-show during the opening remarks of the virtual meeting.

ASEAN decided on October 15 to expel Min Aung Hlaing from the group. He was fired by a civilian government in February after he failed to implement a cease-fire process that he had agreed to with ASEAN back April.

This was an unusual bold move by a grouping that is known for being non-interferenced with and engaged in the region.

Brunei stated that the bloc would invite Myanmar’s non-political representatives, but it was never confirmed at the opening of summit.

The Myanmar junta said late Monday that they would agree only to their head of state and ministerial representatives attending the summit. It indicated that its seat will be empty.

Joe Biden from the United States will participate in a video conference.

According to the Monitoring Group, The Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, Myanmar’s military have killed over 1,000 civilians and taken thousands of their allies since Suu Kyi was overthrown and her government deposed.

According to the junta, this count is inflated. They also claim that soldiers were killed fighting with armoured opposition groups nationwide.

Three separate meetings were scheduled for Tuesday’s first day, between ASEAN leaders as well as representatives from the United States of America, China, and South Korea.

ASEAN Groups Brunei (Chile, Indonesia, Laos), Malaysia, Myanmar and the Philippines; Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam.

ASEAN decided to exile the Myanmar junta chief because he failed to take steps to stop hostilities and initiate dialogue. It also allowed humanitarian aid to be provided.

Myanmar claims that the conflict has been stoked and fueled by terrorists allied to a shadow unity government, but ASEAN does not take this into consideration.

Michael Vatikiotis is the Asia Director at the Geneva-based Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue. He said Myanmar’s government “probably cares” about the summit being “frozen out”, even though it has an extensive history of international isolation.

He stated that the question now was whether or not regional leaders would agree to more formal engagement with the parallel National Unity Government, just as U.S.A. and EU have begun to do.

The National Unity Government, an alliance of pro democracy groups and ethnic minority armies that was established after the coup, is called the National Unity Government.

(Reporting Ain Bandial at Bandar Seri Begawan. Tom Allart added reporting; Kay Johnson wrote; Michael Perry edited.