ASIA/MYANMAR - Negotiations to end the violence: dialogue and humanitarian aid are a priority

Yangon (Agenzia Fides) - The priority in Myanmar is dialogue with the aim of building peace. This is what the countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United Nations have confirmed, in light of the efforts of the international community to find new ways to start negotiations in the country plagued by civil war. On January 21, ASEAN Secretary General Kao Kim Hourn met with Julie Bishop, UN Special Envoy for Myanmar, to discuss the current situation in the country. The discussions focused on the role of UN agencies in supporting humanitarian efforts and promoting the implementation of the ASEAN "five-point plan", stressing the importance of working together to promote peace, stability and well-being of the Burmese people in a time of great suffering.
In ASEAN, the new Malaysian presidency publicly addressed the issue of the civil war in Myanmar at the organization's recent foreign ministers' summit, calling for an end to the violence and the free flow of urgently needed humanitarian aid for the more than 3 million displaced people. In the current situation, Malaysia stressed that pacifying the country is the necessary step even before considering possible elections, which the ruling military junta has promised by the end of 2025. The elections must indeed be "inclusive. They must not be isolated, but must involve all stakeholders," said the Malaysian representative. As long as the country is divided between the areas controlled by the junta and those controlled by the opposition alliance, a peaceful and comprehensive election is effectively impossible.
In recent months, Thailand proposed within ASEAN to set up a "troika" composed by Malaysia, the rotating president in 2025, Laos, last year's rotating president, and Indonesia, which will lead the Association of East Asian Nations in 2026, to lead the negotiations and implement the "five-point plan for peace." Observers say one of the critical issues is how to involve the 20 or so ethnic minority armed organizations and the National Unity Government Myanmar (NUG) in exile in this process.
Against this complex backdrop, China also recently intervened, holding talks with the ethnic militias and mediating a ceasefire between the Burmese army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), which came into effect on January 18. MANDALA is largely made up of ethnic Chinese soldiers and controls a large military base near the Chinese border in the east of the country. The military formation is also part of the "Three Brotherhood Alliance" with the Ta'ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Arakan Army (AA), the coalition of armed opposition groups that controls most of the border areas.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said that for China the priority is to end the fighting near the border between the two countries and that China will continue to actively promote peace and dialogue for the peace process in northern Myanmar in order to promote "security, stability and development of the China-Myanmar border areas". The ceasefire, observers told Fides, will also guarantee a flow of trade that will benefit the civilian population. Currently there are permanent relations between China and the other two groups of the alliance, TNLA and AA, and it is hoped that this initiative will lead to further results towards a ceasefire. (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 25/1/2025)

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