Burma Related News - February 14, 2001.

Thursday, February 15 12:18 AM SGT
Myanmar, Indian foreign ministers hold talks

YANGON, Feb 14 (AFP) - Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh and his Myanmar counterpart Win Aung met here late Wednesday, state-run TV Myanmar reported.

The meeting held at the Yangon's foreign ministry was also attended by senior foreign affairs officials from both sides. The report gave no immediate details of the talks.

Singh arrived in Myanmar's capital Wednesday on an official visit, the first by a senior Indian leader to Myanmar since then-prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1987.

His visit signals a diplomatic revival between the neighbours in the face of China's growing influence in the region.

Singh and his delegation arrived in Yangon from the northern city of Mandalay, where he spent Tuesday evening after crossing the border overland at the Moreh-Tamu checkpoint, the legal gateway for border trade between the two sides.

Singh presided over a ribbon-cutting ceremony there for an Indian-built road that will link central Myanmar with the Indian state of Manipur. He also handed over vehicles and construction equipment, state television said.

On Thursday, the final day of his visit, the minister is to meet with Myanmar's leader Senior General Than Shwe and the junta's first secretary Khin Nyunt.

The trip is seen by diplomats as a reaction to the growing influence of China in the region, particularly in Myanmar where Beijing seeks to assure its access to the Indian Ocean and its deepwater ports.

"This rapprochement also illustrates Yangon's keenness not to put all its eggs in one basket," a western diplomatic source said, referring to Myanmar's reliance on China as it struggles to survive under international sanctions.

Indian officials also said that Singh's trip will "signal New Delhi's interest in reviving close contacts with Yangon."

The two nations will sign a treaty to combat cross-border drug trafficking and a separatist insurgency, and discuss ways to boost trade and transport links, they said.

Singh is paying a return trip after India last November rolled out the red carpet for General Maung Aye, number two in the junta, whose visit stirred up controversy over New Delhi's policy towards the military regime.

Both sides agreed during that trip to step up joint efforts to counter the threat of separatist insurgency along their common border.

India and Myanmar, which share a 1,643-kilometre (1,018-mile) border, have been cooperating in fighting insurgency in India's northeastern states.

Earlier this year, they carried out a joint operation in which five militant camps in Myanmar belonging to the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland were destroyed.

Wednesday, February 14 8:46 PM SGT

Indian foreign minister arrives in Yangon to meet junta leaders

YANGON, Feb 14 (AFP) - Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh arrived in Myanmar's capital Wednesday on a visit that signals a diplomatic revival between the neighbours in the face of China's growing influence in the region.

Singh, the first senior Indian leader to travel to Myanmar since then-prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1987, was due later Wednesday to meet with Foreign Minister Win Aung who is also to hold a dinner in his honour.

He arrived in Yangon from the northern city of Mandalay, where he spent Tuesday evening after crossing the border overland at the Moreh-Tamu checkpoint, the legal gateway for border trade between the two sides.

On Thursday, the final day of the visit, the minister is to meet with Myanmar's leader Senior General Than Shwe and the junta's first secretary Khin Nyunt.

Indian officials also said that Singh's trip will "signal New Delhi's interest in reviving close contacts with Yangon."

The two nations will sign a treaty to combat cross-border drug trafficking and a separatist insurgency, and discuss ways to boost trade and transport links, they said.

Both sides agreed during that trip to step up joint efforts to counter the threat of separatist insurgency along their common border.

India and Myanmar, which share a 1,643-kilometre (1,018-mile) border, have been cooperating in fighting insurgency in India's northeastern states.

Earlier this year, they carried out a joint operation in which five militant camps in Myanmar belonging to the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland were destroyed.

Wednesday, February 14 5:44 PM SGT
Thailand, Myanmar trade barbs over weekend border clash

BANGKOK, Feb 14 (AFP) - Thailand and Myanmar traded barbs Wednesday over weekend border clashes that killed civilians on both sides, accusing each other of aiding the ethnic armies that sparked off the conflict.

Thailand's new Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra bluntly criticised Myanmar's failure to stem massive drugs production within its borders, which he rated as the major cause of tension between the neighbours.

"We are not pleased at the way Myanmar has allowed ethnic minorities to produce drugs along the border area and we have to be decisive on this issue," he told reporters.

Signalling a tough new stance against the military-run country, he warned that if the problems could not be solved amicably Thailand would be forced to take unnamed unilateral measures.

"We must discuss the issue as neighbours, but if the talks do not settle the problem we will have to deal with it in our own way, and this is an assertive policy," he said.

Thailand's main border crossing with Myanmar at the town of Mae Sai remained closed for a second day Wednesday after bitter fighting between the two national armies that ended when a ceasefire was declared Sunday.

Armoured vehicles patrolled the streets of the frontier outpost, largely abandoned now except for a few curious tourists and some local girls who offered Valentine's Day roses to the soldiers guarding the streets.

Two Thais and three Myanmar civilians were killed when shells hit the bustling twin border townships of Mae Sai and Tachilek.

Thailand blamed Myanmar for the incident, saying the artillery that hit Mae Sai strayed from an offensive against ethnic Shan rebels mounted by Yangon's troops in alliance with fighters of the United Wa State Army (UWSA).

The UWSA, also known as the "Red Wa", has been named by international anti-narcotics officials as one of the world's biggest drug producers.

Myanmar's critics accuse it of turning a blind eye to the Red Wa's illicit activities and giving it the nod to attack Shan bases in return for its allegiance.

Myanmar denied the accusations that it was behind the border offensive and accused the Shan of attacking both Mae Sai and Tachilek in an effort to poison relations with Thailand.

On Wednesday it stepped up the war of words by accusing Thailand of directly assisting the Shan rebels -- one of handful of ethnic armies which have refused to sign a ceasefire with Yangon.

Shan ethnic rebels "have been given not only bases and sanctuaries inside Thailand but also artillery support against the Myanmar troop positions," the government said in a statement.

"Due to the artillery fire from the Thai territory, three townspeople were killed while 15 were wounded and seven houses, one Buddhist monastery, one church and three motor vehicles were damaged," it said.

Thai army commander Lieutenant General Wattanachai Chaimeunwong shut down the Mae Sai border crossing Tuesday because of concerns over a build-up of Myanmar troops and fears new fighting could erupt at any time.

On Wednesday he said the two sides had finally reached an agreement to open negotiations over the conflict, with talks scheduled to be held on both sides of the border.

"The Myanmar side is ready to talk now because they have reinforced their troops to a satisfactory level," he said.

A Western political observer said the weekend conflict was more serious than the usual dry-season skirmishes that plague the border region, but that it was hard to know who was to blame.

However, he said the trouble was not likely to have serious repercussions or to derail the nascent political thaw in Myanmar, where the junta has been holding talks with Aung San Suu Kyi.

Wednesday, February 14 5:43 PM SGT

Myanmar attacks Thailand over support for ethnic rebels

YANGON, Feb 14 (AFP) - Myanmar Wednesday accused Thailand of directly assisting ethnic rebels who it said killed three civilians in a weekend artillery attack on the border township of Tachilek.

Fighting broke out between the Thai and Myanmar national armies Sunday after shells bombarded the Thai town of Mae Sai which lies opposite Tachilek, killing two villagers and injuring at least a dozen others.

Thailand blamed Myanmar for the incident, saying the shells strayed from an offensive against ethnic Shan rebels mounted by Yangon's troops in alliance with fighters of the United Wa State Army (UWSA).

However, Myanmar denied the charge and accused the Shan of attacking both Mae Sai and Tachilek in an effort to poison relations between the neighbouring nations.

Shan ethnic rebels "have been given not only bases and sanctuaries inside Thailand but also artillery support against the Myanmar troop positions," it said in a statement as a war of words became more heated.

The bitter exchange was touched off Monday when Thailand issued a protest to Myanmar's ambassador Hla Maung, holding his government responsible for the shelling and gunfire that hit Mae Sai.

In a tit-for-tat gesture, Myanmar authorities then summoned Thai ambassador Oum Maolanon to deliver their own official protest.

At a press conference in Yangon Tuesday, Myanmar government spokesman Colonel Kyaw Thein said the attack on Mae Sai was not the handiwork of its troops.

"If there was any shelling on Mae Sai it was not done by us. It was most likely deliberately done by the Shan rebels to create misunderstanding about the two armies," he said.

Kyaw Thein said that because of the "existing friendship" between the two countries, Myanmar would "take pains to solve the border problems in a peaceful manner."

"But I am perplexed at the attitude of some of the Thai leaders who were constantly informed as to what was going on through our military attache in Bangkok. They were very much aware of the day-to-day activities."

Thai army commander Lieutenant General Wattanachai Chaimeunwong shut down the Mae Sai border crossing Tuesday, saying he was concerned about a build-up of Myanmar troops and fearful that new fighting could erupt at any time.

Wednesday, February 14 1:46 PM SGT
Thai prime minister gets tough with Myanmar on drugs issue

BANGKOK, Feb 14 (AFP) - Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra Wednesday adopted a tough new stance against Myanmar, bluntly criticising its failure to stamp out massive drugs production within its borders.

In an unprecedented attack over the drug issue by a Thai leader, Thaksin vented frustration at the military regime's tolerance of the ethnic minorities who send heroin and amphetamines flooding into Thailand and across the world.

"We are not pleased at the way Myanmar has allowed ethnic minorities to produce drugs along the border area and we have to be decisive on this issue," Thaksin told reporters.

Thaksin, who has said he wants to pay an official visit to Myanmar soon, warned that if the problems could not be solved amicably Thailand would be forced to take unnamed unilateral measures.

"We must discuss the issue as neighbours, but if the talks do not settle the problem we will have to deal with it in our own way, and this is an assertive policy," he said.

Thailand's main border crossing with Myanmar at the town of Mae Sai remained closed for a second day Wednesday after weekend clashes between the two national armies that left two Thais and three Myanmar civilians dead.

Army commander Lieutenant General Wattanachai Chaimeunwong said that three days after a ceasefire was declared, the Thai side was still waiting for Myanmar officials to come to the negotiating table.

"They are just buying time by refusing to agree on the venue of the talks," he said in a radio interview.

Wattanachai said Myanmar had built up its troops opposite the Mae Sai checkpoint, which he ordered shut Tuesday to hamper Myanmar's logistics and pressure it to start discussions.

The Thai army has blamed Myanmar and its ethnic ally, the United Wa State Army (UWSA), for sending stray shells into Mae Sai Sunday as they bombarded rebel Shan State Army (SSA) forces.

Thai troops retaliated against the border intrusion, sparking bitter fighting that ended Sunday evening when a ceasefire was declared.

Military authorities in Yangon have denied that the attack was carried out by its troops and blamed the SSA for plotting to cause trouble between the neighbours.

The UWSA, also known as the "Red Wa", has been named by international anti-narcotics officials as one of the world's biggest drug producers.

Critics of the Myanmar regime accuse it of turning a blind eye to the UWSA's illicit activities and giving it the nod to attack Shan bases. The SSA is one of a handful of armed factions yet to agree to a ceasefire with Yangon.

Thaksin said Wednesday that the current uneasy state of relations between Thailand and Myanmar stemmed from a lack of trust, as well as the problem of widespread drugs trafficking.

He said his coalition partner Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, who is tipped to become defence minister, planned to use his personal contacts with Myanmar's top brass to try to settle the problem.

"From now on his main duties will be to help me on the issues of security, the border, and the military," he said, tacitly confirming the former prime minister and army chief would be named defence minister.

The premier admitted that the relationship with Myanmar was the most problematic of all Thailand's neighbours, but expressed hopes the two sides could work out their problems.

Wednesday, February 14 12:53 AM SGT

Indian foreign minister opens highway in Myanmar

BANGKOK, Feb 13 (AFP) - Visiting Indian Foreign Minister Jaswant Singh opened a 167-kilometre (103-mile) Indian-built road linking central Myanmar and the Indian state of Manipur, Myanmar media reported late Tuesday.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Tuesday afternoon in the Myanmar border town of Tamu, the military-run Myawaddi television channel, monitored here, said.

The minister had entered the country through an overland border crossing.

Also at the ceremony was Lieutenant General Tin Oo, second secretary of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC), the official name of ruling military regime.

Singh also handed over vehicles and construction equipment to Myanmar ministers, the report added.

After attended the opening ceremony the minister and his delegation left for Mandalay, the country's second-largest city, by a special flight, the TV station said without given further details.

Indian officials say Singh's trip, the first by a senior leader from New Delhi to Myanmar since then-prime minister Rajiv Gandhi visited in 1987, will "signal New Delhi's interest in reviving close contacts with Yangon."

The two sides will sign a treaty to combat cross-border drug trafficking and a separatist insurgency, and discuss ways to boost trade and transport links, they said.

Singh is due to arrive Wednesday in Yangon, where he will meet Foreign Minister Win Aung who will also host a dinner in his honour.

On Thursday, the final day of the visit, he is to call on Myanmar's leader Senior General Than Shwe and then meet the junta first secretary Khin Nyunt.