THE Foreign Minister, U Nyan Win, warned against outside interference in Myanmar’s democratic transition process during a briefing at the annual meeting of foreign ministers from the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM) dialogue grouping in Kyoto earlier this month.

At the briefing on May 7, the last day of the two-day meeting, U Nyan Win said the government had made progress in pushing forward the process to effect a smooth democratic transition, a Japanese official later told a media conference, AFP reported.

“Democratisation should be neither imported nor exported. People from the outside cannot force this,” U Nyan Win was quoted as saying at the briefing by the unnamed Japanese official.

The official said U Nyan Win indicated that more time was needed.

“You cannot get clean water right after you drill a well. It will take some time to get pure water,” U Nyan Win said.

The official said U Nyan Win’s briefing also touched on the first ministerial level meeting between Myanmar and the European Union, held on May 6 on the sidelines of the ASEM gathering.

U Nyan Win described the meeting as “constructive,” AFP reported.

The meeting brought together U Nyan Win, his Luxembourg counterpart, Mr Jean Asselborn, whose country currently holds the rotating chairmanship of the EU, and its External Affairs Commissioner, Dr Benita Ferrero-Waldner.

Myanmar was participating in the annual meeting for the first time following its admission to ASEM at the grouping’s biennial summit in Hanoi last October.

The Kyoto meeting was chaired by the Japanese Foreign Minister, Mr Nobutaka Machimura, who said in a statement issued at the end of the gathering that it had included active and fruitful discussions.

The discussions covered ways of strengthning cooperation between the two continents, as well as regional political and security issues, the statement said.

“The Ministers expressed their determination in Kyoto to strengthen the cooperation between Asia and Europe through ASEM in tackling global challenges ...,” it said.

Other issues covered at the meeting included promoting cooperation between the two continents on sustainable economic development as well as promoting cultural dialogue, the statement said.

ASEM was established in 1996 to promote political, economic and social dialogue between the two continents.

Its 39 members comprise the 25 EU countries, the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Japan, China, South Korea and the European Commission.