Addressing nearly 2,000 participants including ethnic armed organisations, parliamentarians and the military, Ms Suu Kyi said Myanmar must learn the lessons from the past and write a new history for the country.
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“I conveyed the concern of the worldwide community about tens of thousands of people who have been living in very poor conditions in IDP camps for over four years”, said Ban.
The peace talks are called Union Peace Conference – 21st Century Panglong, a reference to the Panglong Agreement brokered in 1947 by Suu Kyi’s late father, independence hero Gen. Aung San, in the town of Panglong, when Myanmar was still ruled by Britain. He congratulated the Myanmar President on the historic victory of the National League for Democracy in the general election held in November 2015 and expressed delight at the peaceful and orderly transfer of power.
The situation is complex, and the Government has assured me of [its] commitment to addressing the roots of the problem.
In a veiled reference that some took as criticism of the involvement of foreign countries such as China and the USA and organizations including the United Nations, he urged rapid implementation of any future peace agreements, warning that delay would “risk external interference”.
Nobel laureate Suu Kyi has come under fire from worldwide rights groups for failing to address the plight of the Rohingya.
Prime Minister Modi said two agreements signed today will facilitate the construction and upgrading of 69 bridges and the Kalewa-Yargi road section of the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway project.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the head of armed forces Gen. Min Aung Hlaing are also attending the conference.
Mr Ban has said the talks are “an important first step”. “In this regard, I would say once more that the Tatmadaw’s [Myanmar Armed Forces] stand is firm and is based on ‘the spirit of restoring peace without fail'”.
According to United Nations figures released this week, some 220,000 people are now displaced by ongoing fighting within Myanmar’s Kachin and Shan states, as well as by tensions in the western state of Rakhine. Beijing’s support is immensely crucial to bringing the rebel groups to the negotiation table.
As Myanmar’s economy opens up, China is vying for influence with the United States.
China promised to build two hospitals and a bridge at the China-Myanmar border during Suu Kyi’s visit.
There were reports of fresh fighting in Myanmar as the leaders of ethnic armed groups and the military gathered in the country’s capital for peace talks. Suu Kyi has dictated a faster pace for the talks than her military-linked predecessors.
In one of the recent meetings held in Hyderabad House, New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Myanmar President Htin Kyaw signed 4 deals between the countries so as to strengthen relation for future prospective.
At a press conference, Beijing Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said: “The Chinese side adopts an amicable policy towards Myanmar”.
Ethnic delegates have complained about what they saw as an arbitrary schedule set by the government.
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Group-wise meetings will take place over the following days of the conference, according to the agenda.
