ASEAN's chief and a top Brunei diplomat met with Myanmar junta leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing in the capital Naypyitaw on Friday to discuss the crisis in the country following the February's military coup.
The trip by Lim Jock Hoi, secretary general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and Erywan Pehin Yusof, Brunei's second foreign minister, is considered to be in preparation for the envisioned dispatch of a special envoy to Myanmar.
It is not expected that they will have a chance to meet with the country's ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The junta's information office said Friday's meeting partly saw an exchange of views on the results of an extraordinary ASEAN summit held in Indonesia in late April to discuss the Myanmar situation.
The Myanmar side also alleged that "terror acts" have been committed by unlawful groups opposed to the military government.
It repeated its allegation that Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won last November's general election by committing fraud and irregularities, while it briefed the ASEAN visitors on plans to hold new elections when peace and stability are restored.
At the ASEAN summit, five items were agreed upon, including the need for an immediate suspension of violence and the dispatch of a special envoy who would serve as a mediator in future dialogue between the junta and pro-democracy forces.
It had been believed that the special envoy would be dispatched in mid-May, but the junta has shown a negative attitude toward early acceptance.
Myanmar has said it will "give careful consideration to constructive suggestions" made by ASEAN leaders only "when the situation returns to stability in the country," making arrangements for dispatch of the special envoy potentially tricky.
Since the overthrow of Suu Kyi's civilian government, the junta has kept her and other prominent politicians in detention while using brute force against anti-coup protesters.
More than 840 people have been killed by the country's security forces since the Feb. 1 coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, a rights group that keeps track of deaths and arrests in Myanmar.
Pro-democracy forces have launched what they call the National Unity Government as Myanmar's sole legitimate governing body. But the junta has designated it as a terrorist organization and put its members on a wanted list for suspected treason.
A face-to-face foreign ministers' meeting between ASEAN and China is scheduled for this month, and ASEAN has a desire to attend the meeting after paving the way for dispatching the special envoy.
Brunei currently serves as chair of the 10-member ASEAN, whose members also include Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
