JAKARTA -- Top leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Tuesday expressed dissatisfaction over the lack of progress on resolving Myanmar's political turmoil, with their virtual summit marked by the absence of any representative from Naypyitaw.

Photos from the meeting showed a screen with nine ASEAN heads of state, with the bold text "Myanmar" in the spot where the country's representative should have been.

In an official statement released late Tuesday, the bloc "reiterated that Myanmar remains a member of the ASEAN family" and that the country "needs both time and political space to deal with its many and complex challenges." The statement added that the group remains "committed to support Myanmar in its efforts to return to normalcy in accordance with the will of the people of Myanmar."

While the draft statement seen by Nikkei began by listing the 10 nations making up the group, likely in the hope that Myanmar representatives would attend, the final version dropped this introduction and said only that ASEAN nations gathered, without mentioning the country names.

It marked a rare absence for a bloc that prides itself on unanimous consensus in decision-making.

In light of the Myanmar military leadership's resistance to implementing an agreed-upon road map, ASEAN foreign ministers had decided on Oct. 15 not to invite top general Min Aung Hlaing or any political representatives to this week's talks. ASEAN instead reached out to invite the permanent secretary of the Burmese Foreign Ministry, Chan Aye, but the invitation "came at the last minute," Myanmar military spokesperson Zaw Min Tun told Nikkei.

The permanent secretary "does not have any rights to discuss and decide [on issues]," he said. "And we felt as a sovereign state that we do not have equal rights [at the summit]. That is why we didn't attend."

In a statement issued later on Tuesday, Myanmar's government said it could not accept having its participation "downgraded," but said its absence did "not intend to show its protest against ASEAN or to boycott ASEAN."

Some leaders who participated in the summit struck a harsher tone than the official statement, voicing disappointment at how little has changed in the six months since they agreed on the road map during an in-person meeting in Jakarta. The plan included a visit to the country by an ASEAN special envoy "with full access to all parties concerned" -- a trip that is yet to happen.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo, who played an active role in bringing together the consensus, on Tuesday said the ASEAN leaders' April meeting had been an effort to help family members. "Unfortunately, this family's helping hand was not welcomed by the Myanmar military," he said.

"On the one hand we maintain respect for the principle of noninterference, but on the other hand, we are also obliged to uphold other principles in the ASEAN Charter, such as democracy, good governance, respect for human rights and constitutional government," Widodo said. He added that ASEAN's decision to only invite Burmese representatives at a nonpolitical level was "a tough decision," but one that needed to be made.

Both the Singaporean and Thai leaders said the political unrest in Myanmar will test whether ASEAN can solve its problems internally.

"Progress has been slow. This has real consequences for the people of Myanmar and ASEAN's credibility as a rules-based organization," said Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

"We thus strongly urge the Myanmar military authorities to cooperate with the special envoy fully and expeditiously," Lee said, adding that Singapore "fully supports the difficult but necessary decisions made to uphold ASEAN's credibility," referring to the decision to not invite Min Aung Hlaing.

Thailand's Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha echoed the sentiment, saying the situation in Myanmar is "a test of ASEAN's ability to resolve problems in our own region." ASEAN's role in addressing the issue "is of paramount importance and our action on this matter shall have a bearing on ASEAN's credibility in the eyes of the international community," he said.

But some analysts were pessimistic about the chances of making headway.

"Myanmar's absence from the summit signals its unwillingness to heed ASEAN's mediation proposal for a peaceful resolution of the crisis," said Bryan Tse, country analyst at The Economist Intelligence Unit. "With ASEAN unlikely to impose economic sanctions on Myanmar despite its exclusion of the junta from the summit, Myanmar's military will continue its violent crackdown with no reconciliation in sight, even as its regional isolation deepens as a result."

Meanwhile, leaders touched on other challenges facing the bloc, from COVID-19 and climate change to the intensifying U.S.-China rivalry.

Thailand's Prayuth stressed that ASEAN "must ensure our unity and centrality in order to maintain regional strategic equilibrium," referring to the "centrality" principle that positions the bloc as the core of the Asia-Pacific's security architecture.