The implementation of Myanmar’s Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement will be conducive to the realization of a peaceful, united and harmonious Myanmar, according to H.E. Le Luong Minh, Secretary-General of ASEAN.
In a letter addressed to Myanmar Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin dated April 6, SG Minh conveyed his congratulations to President U Thein Sein and the Government of Myanmar on the ceasefire agreement reached with the leaders of the 16 ethnic armed groups operating in the country.
“I am convinced that under the leadership of President Thein Sein, the Government and people of Myanmar will record still greater success in implementation of the Roadmap to Discipline-flourishing Democracy,” he said in the letter.
The agreement reached on 31 March came after a year of negotiations between Myanmar’s Union Peace Working Committee and Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team.
The agreement, SG Minh said, “would also contribute to the maintenance of regional peace and stability in the interest of the peoples of ASEAN.” Describing it as “historic,” SG Minh added that the agreement would set the next stage for the country’s peace and reconciliation process.
The ceasefire accord between Myanmar’s government and ethnic rebel groups aims to end more than 65 years of armed conflict in the country.
Myanmar’s semi-civilian government, which took power in 2011 after 49 years of military rule, has made ending hostilities with the many groups that have taken up arms since independence in 1948 one of its priorities.
The meetings during the last week of March were the latest of seven rounds of talks to negotiate the agreement since 2013. The government had targeted reaching a deal before a general election expected to take place in November this year.
Myanmar President Thein Sein attended the ceremonial signing by government and ethnic rebel negotiators. Ethnic representatives will now take the draft document to the leaders of the rebel groups.
“A nationwide ceasefire agreement would mark a potentially historic step towards achieving peace and national reconciliation, which has eluded the country for decades,” the U.S. embassy said in a statement.
The United Nations called the draft agreement a “significant achievement” and a first step towards larger political negotiations. Canada also lauded the achievement. (With a report from ASEAN Secretariat News and Reuters)