India, Jan. 29 -- Southeast Asia's top diplomats met on Wednesday under growing pressure to push a peace plan that has so far failed to end Myanmar's civil war, to beat a deadline to conclude talks on a nonaggression pact with China this year. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a diverse 11-national bloc, has struggled to project unity and relevance for years. But it faced its latest setback last year when deadly fighting erupted between two members, Thailand and Cambodia, over a longtime border conflict.

Fighting ended with a ceasefire that was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from US President Donald Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless they agreed. Helping sustain that fragile ceasefire...