PUBLISHED : 30 Jul 2024 at 08:50
VIENTIANE: Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa has urged Myanmar’s neighbouring countries to enhance their cooperation in supporting all parties in the country’s civil war to cease fighting that has been going on since a 2021 military coup.
Speaking to Kyodo News and Thai media in Vientiane on Saturday, Mr Maris said he had informal discussions with his counterparts from Myanmar and India regarding the civil war on the sidelines of a meeting of South Asian and some Southeast Asian countries held in New Delhi earlier this month.
Mr Maris was in the Lao capital last week to attend foreign ministerial talks held by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations members and the regional grouping’s partner nations, including the United States, Japan and China.
Thailand and India, which share borders with Myanmar, have faced an influx of refugees displaced by the conflict between the military and opposition forces following the Feb 1, 2021, military coup that ousted the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
“I believe there is a good chance (to improve the situation in Myanmar) as several countries are taking a more open attitude (towards Myanmar’s junta) than before,” Mr Maris said.
“I felt Myanmar has a more open idea when I held tripartite talks,” he added, referring to his discussions with his counterparts from Myanmar and India during the foreign ministerial meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation member nations in early July.
Myanmar shares borders with Thailand, India, China, Laos, and Bangladesh.