Members of the
People's Defence Force that is fighting the Myanmar military hike at a training
camp in an area controlled by ethnic Karen rebels in Kayin state. (Reuters File
Photo)
Government and think-tank representatives from Myanmar and
its neighbours, including Thailand, China and India, held talks in New Delhi on
Tuesday as part of a secretive effort to de-escalate a bloody crisis in the
army-run country, two sources said.
The talks this week were the second in a so-called Track 1.5 dialogue that
started in Thailand last month. They came as frustration grows within the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) bloc at the military’s failure
to implement a peace plan that it agreed to in April 2021.
The sources, who asked not to be named and declined to
identify the representatives because the process was confidential, said
Myanmar, India, China, Thailand, Cambodia and Laos were present at Tuesday’s
meeting, as was Indonesia, the current Asean chair.
One of the sources said participants were interested in
bringing into the process Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG), an
organisation affiliated with the resistance and declared “terrorists” by the
junta.
“They want to talk to the NUG at some point in time
officially, because the NUG and the Myanmar army haven’t spoken officially at
all,” said the source, who was briefed on the meeting. “These are the hopes
that the participants have.”
Myanmar was plunged into conflict and economic chaos in 2021
after its powerful military overthrew the elected civilian government of Nobel
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, triggering an armed resistance that it has sought to
violently crush.
The foreign ministries of India and Thailand, the Chinese
embassy in New Delhi and the NUG did not immediately respond to queries from
Reuters about this week’s meeting. A spokesperson for Myanmar’s State
Administrative Council, as the government is formally known, could not be
reached. A spokesperson for Indonesia’s foreign ministry said he was not aware
of the meeting.
The meeting was hosted by an Indian think-tank and included
discussion on all sides about reducing violence, creating space for dialogue
and the delivery of humanitarian aid, the second source said, adding that the
next meeting would be in Laos.
“The neighbouring countries’ perspective needs to be taken
into account,” said the source, “For them, the foremost priority is the
de-escalation of the violence.”
The junta has been shunned by Western countries but has
stepped up engagement with Russia and recently hosted visitors from Thailand,
including senior military officers and Foreign Minister Don
Pramudwinai.
Mr Don and junta leader Min Aung Hlaing last Friday discussed
the haze that has been plaguing the region as well as border security and other
issues, the Global New
Light of Myanmar reported.
Retired diplomat Ban Ki-moon, who made multiple trips to
Myanmar when he was the head of the United Nations, met the junta leader and
its reformist former president on Monday and called for an immediate end to
violence.
Asean’s peace plan, known as the five-point consensus, is the
only official diplomatic process in play for Myanmar and includes halting
hostilities and starting dialogue between all parties. However, it has been
largely ignored by the junta.
Asean has barred representatives of the military government
from attending most of its meetings until they implement the plan, which has
infuriated the generals.
“This effort will not supplant Asean,” the second source said
of the ongoing Track 1.5 talks. “This will only complement it.”
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