Keeping aside Rohingya issue for closer BD-Myanmar ties?

An influential Myanmar foreign ministry think tank has suggested "keeping aside" the Rohingya issue for a closer relations between Bangladesh and Myanmar though ruling party chief patron U Tin Oo sees peaceful solutions to every problem through talks, reports the UNB.

 

"Keep aside that issue. Let us work on other issues," former ambassador and member of the MISIS, U Wynn Lwin, told a Bangladesh media team, in the presence of MISIS Chairman at their office in Yangon.

 

The think tank-- Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies (MISIS)-- even denied the existence of Rohingyas which is not actually true.

 

"We can bring Bangladesh-Myanmar closer as long as we don't use this (Rohingya) word," Lwin said.

 

He claimed that is the spirit of the people in Myanmar and the Myanmar government.

 

Even while talking to the Bangladesh journalists at the ruling National League of Democracy's (NLD) headquarters in Yangon, U Tin Oo, also Aung San Suu Kyi's most trusted patron, did not pronounce the word 'Rohingya'.

 

The veteran leader, now 89, however, favored peaceful solutions to problems between Bangladesh and Myanmar when he was indirectly asked about Muslims.

 

Sharing the potential of Bangladesh-Myanmar relations, the MISIS Chairman and retired Ambassador Nyunt Maung Shein at his office in Yangon said Bangladeshi businessmen should come here to showcase their products in Myanmar through single-country trade fair.

 

He also shared the difficulties in having physical connectivity and also mentioned that the BCIM initiative sees a slow progress.

 

Member of the MISIS and retired Ambassador U Wynn Lwin said, "I want better relations with Bangladesh."

 

Lwin who joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1960-61 as Third Secretary and served as a deputy head of Myanmar Mission in Dhaka during 1978-82 briefed the Bangladesh media team on the priority areas of the current government's foreign policy.

 

According to him, the current government will treat its all neighbors equally and the government will also address both internal and external issues together.

 

Sharing his Bangladesh experience, Lwin, who carried the message of Myanmar's recognition to Bangladesh after liberation war, said he had seen a "poor" Bangladesh which is now "no more poor" with so many changes on development fronts.

 

Senior journalists in Yangon said few days ago hundreds of Buddhist monks demonstrated in front of the US embassy in Yangon because the embassy had used the word Rohingya in one of its statements referring to the stateless population in Arakan.

 

Thousands of Rohingyas have taken refuge in Bangladesh following violence but Myanmar authorities did not look at the root cause of the problem that kept blocking the growth of the relations between the two neighbors.

 

There was a high hope among the Rohingyas that democratic leader Suu Kyi will touch upon the issue ending their sufferings through recognizing them as Myanmar citizens.

 

But that remains the hope only and Suu Kyi is unlikely to take up the Rohingya issue in her priority list before two-three years, a political analyst in Myanmar told mentioning that she will remain busy with other domestic issues as people's expectation is very high.

 

The NLD has planned to hold 'Panglong Conference' which would be discussing ethnic reconciliation.

 

Suu Kyi is planning to hold this conference for the first time after her father Aung San organised such a meet in 1947. The same year he was killed to reconcile Shan, Kachin and Chin ethnic minority leaders.

Tin Oo said they would hold the conference as ethnic reconciliation was a matter of priority for them.

 

An official who is aware of the development in Myanmar said the international community needs to continue helping NLD government to address the Rohingya issue and Bangladesh must join hands with the international community.

 

The US has been saying it is equally important for them that the Government of Myanmar continue to make progress on its respect for human rights, including on the protection of members of vulnerable ethnic and religious minority populations in Burma, such as the Rohingya.

 

The US also said they continue to raise their concerns with the Government of Myanmar at the most senior levels.

 

Bangladesh is now redoubling its efforts to improve ties with Myanmar in every possible ways with special focus on enhanced people-to-people contact which will help know each other better removing all the misperceptions.

 

In her first briefing with members of the foreign diplomatic corps in April 21, Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi said Myanmar will foster better relations with other countries, as the new government works to build a strong democratic nation.

 

The new administration, led by her National League for Democracy (NLD) party, will work with other countries to foster better relations in the spirit of peace, prosperity and friendship, Lwin said.

 

"This has always been our aim-- that our country should always be the grounds for fostering better relations not just between our neighbors and ourselves, but between us and the rest of the world and between all other countries as well," Suu Kyi told the ambassadors.

 

According to the latest restructuring of MISIS since early this year, it has now been chaired by a career retired Ambassador and more outside scholars and prominent researchers are included as members. It has now 19 members, including Chairman, Secretary and Joint Secretary.