ELECTION PUSH
On the sidelines of the BIMSTEC summit in Bangkok, Min Aung Hlaing met with the prime ministers of Nepal, India and Thailand.
The BIMSTEC, or the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, grouping also includes Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan.
The junta leader’s discussions with the Thai prime minister included disaster prevention and transnational crime, Thai officials said.
Thailand’s foreign ministry said the Thai and Malaysian foreign ministers would visit Myanmar on Saturday (Apr 5).
At the summit, Thai premier Paetongtarn urged the group to forge a free trade agreement and to cooperate on completing a highway connecting Thailand, Myanmar and India, the Thai government said.
In his meeting with the junta chief, India’s Modi pushed for an early restoration of the democratic process in Myanmar, including through credible and inclusive elections, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said.
Before the quake, Myanmar’s junta had been pushing ahead with a plan to hold a general election in December, though critics have derided this as a sham to keep the generals in power through proxies.
“Min Aung Hlaing’s recent state visits to China and Russia have created new incentives for India to dial up its own engagement,” Singapore-based analyst Angshuman Choudhury said.
“Moreover, under Modi, India has pitched itself as a humanitarian first responder in the region – so post-earthquake disaster relief becomes an easy pivot for a direct meeting.”
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