They said the move threatened to scupper progress at the peace talks, which will be attended by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
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More than 120,000 have been displaced, many to squalid displacement camps in western Rakhine state, after fleeing violence stirred by Buddhist nationalists in 2012.
The United Nations has been a steady partner in support of Myanmar’s reforms, in particular the national reconciliation process.
Last week Suu Kyi picked former United Nations chief Kofi Annan to lead a commission to stop human rights abuses in Rakhine.
Fighting between the military, which seized power in 1962, and armed ethnic groups has been raging nearly on-and-off since the end of the Second World War and has claimed thousands of lives.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, delivers an opening speech during the Union Peace Conference-21st Century Panglong, at the Myanmar International Convention Centre, Aug. 31, 2016, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. But Aung San was assassinated the following year and the deal fell apart.
It is also pertinent to remember that President Kyaw is a loyal aide and confidant of de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was appointed because Suu Kyi herself could not assume that office due to a constitutional provision which debars citizens having spouses or children holding foreign nationality from this post. “We can not expect a breakthrough, albeit there have never been so many groups involved in the peace process”, he told the DPA news agency. For one, Suu Kyi herself has suffered under the military, having spent decades in detention for promoting democracy under the Myanmar’s dictatorship.
The country’s military chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, also emphasised the importance of having peace in Myanmar.
He added that if they had lived in the country for generations, all people in Myanmar should enjoy the same legal status and citizenship as everyone else.
This agreement was crucially important, and the new Government has undertaken efforts to make it more inclusive.
Representatives from the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the KIA’s political wing, have said they will attend the Panglong Conference. A joint military commission has been tasked with handling ceasefire, civilian protection and monitoring issues.
Myanmar has a unique opportunity to end decades of ethnic rebellions in various parts of the country, leader Aung San Suu Kyi said Wednesday as she promised that her government will guarantee rebel groups equal rights and respect in historic peace talks that her government organized. “We learn from previous failures and strive to write and leave a successful history from now”, she told the participants. Myanmar is also dependent on China to keep a tab on some of its ethnic rebel groups. During his bilateral talks with Prime Minister Modi in the afternoon, a host of issues, including border management and ways to contain militant activities along the Indo-Myanmar border, are likely to be raised.
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In a separate development, fighting was reported in the northern states of Kachin and Shan, toward the Chinese border. Representatives of insurgent groups who were in Naypyitaw for the talks told the media that the military had launched fresh attacks on rebel positions in those states.
