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HEADLINE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AFP - Indian army chief meets Myanmar military leaders in Yangon AP - Russia Sees Myanmar As `Promising Partner' - Tass AP-Indian Military Official Visits Myanmar - Report Asia Pulse - Malaysia to Host
Indo China Business Dialogue
Dawn - Myanmar team
arrives
ST-UN envoy meets Myanmar junta and opposition Bkk Post -Editorial -Time for Burma to talk
refugees
BBC-Indian army chief in Burma.
Bkk Post -Suspect's release
demanded
The Nation - Sisters confess to
plotting grisly murder
Monday, July 3 10:52 PM SGT
Indian army chief meets
Myanmar military leaders in Yangon
BANGKOK, July 3 (AFP) - Indian army chief General Ved Prakash Malik arrived in Yangon Monday for talks with Myanmar military leaders, state television reported. Myanmar's ruling junta put on a red-carpet welcome for Malik, who inspected an honour guard at Yangon's airport before meeting with deputy commander-in-chief of Myanmar defence services, General Maung Aye. Malik and his high-level military delegation were in
Myanmar for a goodwill visit at Maung Aye's invitation, TV Myanmar said in a
dispatch monitored here.
Maung Aye is also the vice chairman of the State Peace and
Development Council -- the official name of Myanmar's military
government.
The meeting with Malik was also attended by army
chief-of-staff Lieutenant General Tin Oo and the commanders of Myanmar's navy
and air force, the report said.
TV Myanmar did not give details of their discussions, nor
say how long the Indian delegation was to stay in Myanmar.
Malik is also expected to call on junta leader, Senior
General Than Shwe, during his visit, the report said.
India and Myanmar, who share a 1,643 kilometre (1,018
mile) border, last year pledged to cooperate more closely to curb cross-border
terrorism.
They signed a document agreeing to "control and contain
cross-border militancy in their respective territory, drug trafficking and
smuggling, and (the) opening of more border trade centres."
Tuesday, July 4 3:28 AM SGT
Russia Sees Myanmar As `Promising Partner' - Tass MOSCOW (AP)--Russia considers Myanmar a promising partner
in Asia, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov told his visiting Myanmar counterpart in
Moscow on Monday.
Win Aung's visit to Moscow, which began Monday and ends Wednesday, was the first since 1979 by a foreign minister from Myanmar, also known as Burma. Win Aung and Ivanov signed documents on improving
relations between the countries and discussed fighting international terrorism
and increasing economic ties, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.
"Russia regards Myanmar as a promising partner in
Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region in general," Ivanov said, Interfax
reported.
Win Aung was accompanied by officials from Myanmar's
defense, energy, industry and railway sectors.
The military generals who have ruled Myanmar since 1962
have been internationally isolated for suppressing dissent, violating human
rights and ignoring the election victory of the pro-democrat party of Nobel
Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Tuesday, July 4 3:47 PM SGT
Malaysia to Host Indo
China Business Dialogue
KUALA LUMPUR, July 4 Asia
Pulse - About 200 local participants are expected to join the
Indo-China and Myanmar Business Dialogue sheduled to be held at the Malaysian
International Exhibition & Convention Centre on July 27.
The one day event is jointly organised by the Malaysia
South-South Association (MASSA) an organisation to promote trade and investment
with South-South countries, Young Entrepreneurs Association Malaysia (PUMM) and
International Design Export Centre Sdn Bhd (IDEC).
IDEC's executive director, Adrian Chung, said the dialogue
was aimed at keeping members of MASSA, PUMM and IDEC informed of the vast
business potential in emerging markets.
Government representatives from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar
and Vietnam would speak at the dialogue, he told a press conference here
Tuesday.
Chung said the topics to be covered included the current
economic climate, current foreign investment laws and regulations, government
incentives on foreign direct investments, trade regulations and business
incentives.
Topics on the availability of resources and a list of
projects available for joint ventures or privatisation would also be included,
besides issues on business opportunities and implementation of the Asean Free
Trade Area (AFTA), he added.
A fee of RM50 would be charged for members and RM80 for
non-members.
Tuesday, July 4 3:54 PM SGT
Indian Military
Official Visits Myanmar - Report
YANGON, Myanmar (AP)--Gen. V.P. Malik, India's chief of the
army staff, has arrived in Myanmar for his second visit in six months, a
state-owned newspaper said Tuesday.
The purpose of the visit, which began Monday, was not reported but Myanmar and India are seeking to ease tensions of recent years. The same day, the head of Myanmar's ruling military
council Gen. Khin Nyunt left with a 20-member delegation for a visit to India's
arch-rival Pakistan, according to diplomatic sources. The visit was not reported
in the official media.
Malik paid a brief visit to Myanmar in January which was
reciprocated by a trip to India by Gen. Maung Aye, the-second ranked leader of
the ruling State Peace and Development Council.
Indian-Myanmar relations deteriorated following the bloody
suppression of a pro-democracy uprising in 1988 by the Myanmar military.
Isolated from much of the world community, Myanmar moved closer to its other
giant neighbor, China.
Dawn
ISLAMABAD:
Myanmar team arrives
ISLAMABAD, July 3: Myanmar's powerful intelligence chief
and First Secretary Lt-Gen Khin Nyunt arrived here on Monday at the start of a
five-day trip.
It was the first high-level visit by a Myanmar delegation since 1974 when former military dictator Ne Win came to Pakistan, a government statement said. Mr Nyunt will meet Gen Pervez Musharraf and the chiefs of armed forces, as well as visiting unspecified industrial centres during his July 3-7 stay, it said. Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar told AFP he welcomed the general but said he would have no comment until after his visit was over. "Pakistan and Myanmar have long-standing cordial and friendly relations, which are marked by a close similarity of views on a number of regional and international issues." "Lt-Gen Nyunt's visit to Pakistan will strengthen the existing bilateral relations and open new avenues for economic and trade cooperation between the two countries." The Pakistani embassy official said Mr Nyunt would meet Gen Musharraf for talks on bilateral trade, agricultural and industrial development, and technology transfers. Myanmar-Pakistan annual two-way trade amounted to about $22 million in 1999. Islamabad and Yangon are close allies of China, which sees them as strategic buttresses against India's military and economic might in South Asia. The two countries also share major drug problems, with Myanmar believed to be the world's second biggest opium producer after Afghanistan. The delegation included Industry Minister Aung Thaung, Petroleum and Mines Industry Minister Maj-Gen Saw Lwin, Commerce Minister Brig-Gen Pyi Pone, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Khin Maung Win and other high-ranking military officers.-Agencies The Straits Times - July 4,
2000.
UN envoy meets Myanmar junta and opposition
YANGON -- UN special envoy Razali Ismail met military and opposition leaders on his first visit to Myanmar, officials said yesterday, but appeared to have made little headway in mediating between the two sides. The UN envoy, a Malaysian who served formerly as its ambassador to the UN, was appointed in April with the aim of reinvigorating the world body's dialogue with Myanmar. One of his tasks is to try to overcome the stalemate between Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD), which won an overwhelming victory in 1990 elections, and the junta which has refused to recognise the results. Ms Aung San Suu Kyi told the envoy that the NLD would never accept the military's plan to eventually hold fresh elections under a new constitution, party sources said. The opposition would keep in place its parliamentary representative committee until the junta acknowledged the results of the poll and convened parliament, the sources said. The UN delegation, which left Yangon yesterday, did not release details of its two meetings with Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD members, nor of its discussions with the military government. But junta sources said the military government restated its position that the NLD must not be allowed to govern because it was deliberately trying to destroy national solidarity in the country. The envoy also met the powerful head of military intelligence, Lieutenant General Khin Nyunt, as well as Foreign Minister Win Aung during the visit. --AFP Bangkok Post - July 4, 2000.
Editorial -Time for Burma to talk refugees The weekend trip by Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai to the huge Ban Mae La
refugee camp was useful in several ways. In the first place, the premier got to
see for himself the huge problem of caring for the endangered people of Burma.
Thailand is forced to devote huge human and economic resources to helping our
less fortunate neighbours. Perhaps the most serious problem of Ban Mae La,
however, is the contemptuous treatment by Rangoon of both the refugees
themselves and the problems faced by Thailand.
Day to day care alone for the residents of the Tak province camp is
daunting. The 30,000 men, women and children consume vast quantities of food and
water. They require medical and administrative care. Diplomats, security
officials, non-government groups and others are devoted, full-time, to the
refugee problem. The refugee camps lining our border with Burma now house
100,000 helpless, dependent people. The cost to Thailand is almost
immeasurable-tens of millions of baht, and enormous effort diverted from our own
people and problems.
Amid the drama and suffering of the camp, Premier Chuan kept the main
purpose of his trip in the front of his mind. Thailand has set a goal of
returning the Burmese refugees home within three years. By any international
standard, this is a huge and generous offer. Hosting tens of thousands of
refugees is a large and mostly thankless task. There is no legitimate reason why
the refugees cannot go back to their country by 2003.
There is, unfortunately, an actual reason why the three-year timetable may
fail. That reason is the military junta of Burma. The dictators launched the
policies and attacks to drive out the refugees. Now, they have erected a series
of walls to keep them out. The Burmese rulers seem to have decided that they do
not want the 100,000 border refugees back in their country. They have chosen,
therefore, not to deal with the problem. Having made a mess, Burma refuses even
to discuss cleaning it up.
To be fair, there is a little blame that can be spread around. The
international community contracted "compassion fatigue" two decades ago. Not
only do well-off foreign countries refuse to take Burmese refugees, their
funding of care for the hapless victims of Burma is basic at best, niggardly in
the opinion of many.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has barely met its basic duties. It
has provided minimal shelter, food and water in most cases. But it has provided
no help or guidance for individual refugees. So far as is known, the UNHCR has
not helped any refugees return to safe places in Burma. The agency has
inexplicably, and stubbornly, failed its responsibility to discuss repatriation
with Burma.
All of this helps Burma remain arrogant and cavalier. The dictators demand
Thailand prove the citizenship of each refugee-as if Thais or foreigners are
eager to sneak into Burma to live. They claim the refugees are a security
threat-as if Thai border people are at war with Rangoon. They bad-mouth Thailand
for using refugee camps for smuggling-as if Rangoon had no hand at all in the
massive drug trafficking that threatens our nation.
None of this is acceptable conduct from a neighbour. The refugees have fled
the Burmese border war to find sanctuary. It is entirely up to Burma to
establish peace inside its borders. Then, the refugees must return to a quiet
life.
What seems clear is that Burma wants Thailand to keep its unwanted
refugees. That is a win-win situation for the dictatorship. The international
community must back the Thai plan to care adequately for the refugees until
2003. If Burma is allowed to force its unwanted population on Thailand, other
unpleasant regimes will also throw their mess on others.
BBC-Tuesday, 4 July, 2000, 12:09 GMT 13:09 UK
Indian army chief
in Burma
By South Asia analyst Larry Jagan India's army chief General Ved Prakash Malik is in Burma on an official four-day visit. General Malik is expected to meet Burma's head of state, General Than Shwe on Tuesday. He is also expected to discuss closer co-operation on cross-border military operation with his Burmese counter-part General Maung Aye. The Indian military delegation's visit coincides with a trip by Burma's military intelligence chief Lt General Khin Nyunt, to Pakistan. Malik's second trip This is General Malik's second visit to Burma within six months. Indian defence officials say the current visit is aimed at clarifying the
finer points in these plans.
Delhi has long been concerned that several of the insurgent groups active in
India's north east have bases inside Burma.
Last year, India and Burma signed an agreement to control cross-border
militancy, drug trafficking and smuggling.
Now the army chiefs of the two countries are finalising plans to make this
agreement operational.
Chinese influence
In the past five years, India has tried to improve relations with Burma's
military rulers.
Although Delhi wants to see Burma become a multi-party democracy as soon as
possible, it has been concerned for some time now about Beijing's increasing
influence in Burma.
To try to counter that, Delhi felt it had no alternative but to develop
closer ties with Rangoon.
During General Maung Aye's visit to India in January military co-operation
between the countries - to combat cross-border insurgents and drug traffickers -
was discussed at length.
Burma is particularly keen to find other sources of military equipment.
Diplomats in Rangoon believe that General Maung Aye and others in the army
are concerned that they are too dependent on China for their arms supplies.
Burma and Pakistan
This also appears to be the main reason behind the intelligence chief, Lt
General Khin Nyunt's trip to Islamabad. China used to train the Burmese airforce and is still the country's major
supplier of ammunition.
By switching some of their sources of military aid from China to Pakistan,
diplomats in Rangoon say Burma's military leaders hope to reduce its dependence
on China.
This may have the approval of Beijing, since China has a close relationship
with Pakistan.
The fact that General Maung Aye is hosting his Indian counterpart at the same
time as Lt General Khin Nyunt is in Pakistan suggests that Rangoon is sensitive
to India's likely concerns.
But it may also reflect a growing tension within the Burmese military
leadership about the country's international ties, particularly towards its two
big neighbours China and India. The Times of India - July 4,
2000. UN envoy completes first mission to Myanmar
YANGON, Myanmar: A UN envoy left Myanmar on Monday after a five-day mission
to assess the human rights situation and mediate between the military regime and
the pro-democracy opposition, diplomats said.
Razali Ismail, on his first visit as envoy of UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan, met with Secretary One of the ruling State Peace and Development Council,
Lt. Gen. Khin Nyunt, and democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
On Monday, he held talks with leaders of the Shan National League for
Democracy, an ethnic political party which won seats in Myanmar's 1990 general
election.
The military never honoured the results of the election, swept by Suu Kyi's
National League for Democracy.
Razali also met with Western diplomats and ambassadors of member states of
the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which Myanmar, also known as
Burma, is a member. (AP)
In a petition to the chief of a Thai-Burmese border co-ordinating panel, the
Burmese officials said Cho Tho, 31, was a scapegoat in a Thai marine police
crackdown on drugs. Bilateral ties could be damaged if their demand was not met, they said. Cho Tho had been an informant for Thai police but some of them turned against
him after receiving a bribe from a Thai drug suspect, they said. The source said three officers had received a bribe of 150,000 baht. Col Peerapol Viriyakul, chief of the co-ordinating panel, has asked the
provincial marine police chief to look into the
matter. |