The government and military in Myanmar are holding landmark peace talks with armed ethnic groups as part of efforts to bring an end to decades of conflict.
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A day before the conference started, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on Myanmar to improve the living conditions of the Rohingya, underscoring the challenges facing Suu Kyi in tackling all the country’s ethnic divisions.
Suu Kyi, who leads Myanmar with the title of state counselor and is also foreign minister, said, “We are doing what we can to make sure that all groups can attend, but to attend or not is up to them”.
Calling Myanmar a “bridge” that connects India with South East Asia, Modi said, “Myanmar is special for us”.
“Ceasefires have existed in the country since 1989, but ceasefires are not the same as peace, either locally or nationwide”, said Martin Smith, a writer and expert on Myanmar’s ethnic affairs.
That would give ethnic groups – who have complained of decades of oppression and neglect by the central ethnic Bamar majority – some autonomy over their government, land and resources.
“This is the beginning of the process of creating a handsome mosaic of a diverse, harmonious, and peaceful new Myanmar”, emphasised the UN Special Rapporteur.
Three groups – the Arakan Army, Ta’ang National Liberation Army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army – have refused to commit to disarming and their involvement remained uncertain on Tuesday.
The United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC), an alliance of nine ethnic armed groups that did not sign the NCA, are attending the conference to show their respect to and support of Aung San Suu Kyi and to advocate for a federal union in Myanmar.
A peace conference has begun under Aung San Suu Kyi’s supervision.
Mr Ban reminded them that they owe Myanmar’s young generation a better tomorrow.
“So long as we are unable to achieve national reconciliation and national unity, we will never be able to establish a sustainable and durable peaceful union”, she told delegates.
The peace conference beginning today has been dubbed the 21st Century Panlong Conference – a reference to a 1947 agreement brokered in the town of Panlong by Ms Suu Kyi’s father, General Aung San.
Myanmar’s State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi, centre, President Htin Kyaw, right, and vice president Henry Van Thio, left, gather for a group picture with ethnic rebel leaders and top government officials during the opening of the peace conference in Naypyidaw on August 31, 2016.
As reported by Deutsche Welle (DW), Germany’s global broadcaster, the five-day peace conference in Naypyitaw started on August 31.
“Other peace talks will be held after the conference, and we will discuss results from these talks during another peace conference that will be held in six months”, said former Lieutenant General Khin Zaw Oo.
They warned the move threatened to scupper progress at the peace talks.
The agreement were signed after delegation level talks between Prime minister Narendra Modi and visiting President of Myanmar U Htin Kyaw in New Delhi this afternoon.
Also speaking at the conference, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon noted that “every transition takes a risk”.
The PM also said both sides had agreed to work together to enhance the safety and security of their people, and to combat terror and insurgency in their respective countries.
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In an earlier press conference Ban urged the new government to address the plight of the country’s minority Rohingya Muslims, many of whom are denied citizenship and live in makeshift camps in western Rakhine state.
