Security meeting of 6 countries including Bangladesh in Myanmar
National security chiefs from six South and Southeast Asian countries have traveled to Myanmar for talks. Bangladesh is also among these six countries. This is a rare occurrence during the Myanmar junta period.
Myanmar’s state media The Global New Light of Myanmar reported in a report that the national security chiefs of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Thailand and Sri Lanka went to the capital Yangon on Thursday on the occasion of the BIMSTEC conference, a trade alliance of South and Southeast countries.
Security chiefs from BIMSTEC member states met with General Min Aung Hlaing, the head of Myanmar’s ruling military government, ahead of the talks on Friday.
There, the member states discussed cooperation in peace and stability, drug eradication, fight against terrorism and human trafficking, reported The Global New Light.
After the army seized power in 2021, repression of dissidents began. Recently, they have faced conflict from various minority ethnic groups, including the Rohingya. Right now, the military government is fighting against the People’s Defense Force of Myanmar’s National Unity Government.
Human rights organizations have been criticizing the junta’s repression over the past 3 years. However, those criticisms are apparently not being taken seriously by the military government.
Myanmar has borders with Bangladesh, India and Thailand. As most Western countries do not recognize the military government in Myanmar, they have not sent any envoys to the ongoing BIMSTEC conference.
The UN also did not accept the military government; Rather, the United Nations considers Aung San Suu Kyi’s government representative to be the country’s representative. The junta government is also not being included in high-level meetings of ASEAN, the Southeast Asian alliance.
Source: Deutsche Welle
