Rising tensions in the disputed South China Sea will also be on the agenda at the gathering of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Laos.

Southeast Asian leaders will meet in Laos this week as Myanmar's civil war and mounting tensions in the South China Sea risk corroding the ASEAN grouping's central role in the region.

Southeast Asian leaders will hold talks with a Myanmar junta representative at a summit on Wednesday as they try to kickstart faltering diplomatic efforts to broker an end to the country's bloody civil war.

Myanmar will send a representative to a regional summit this week for the first time in three years, a diplomatic source told AFP Tuesday, as the ruling junta struggles to quell a civil war. The conflict will be high on the agenda as leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) meet in Laos from Wednesday,

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will represent the United States at the Association of Southeast Nations (ASEAN) summits in Laos this week and expects to discuss human rights in Myanmar, China's "irresponsible" behavior in the South China Sea and Ukraine,

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will represent the United States at summits with Asian leaders in Laos this week and expects to discuss human rights in Myanmar, China's "irresponsible" behavior in the South China Sea and Ukraine,

For the first time since the junta seized power three years ago, Myanmar will send a Foreign Ministry official to the summit. But that move has drawn criticism from some human rights groups, NGOs and opponents of the junta inside the country,