Myanmar junta chief meets foreign leaders in Bangkok as earthquake toll tops 3,100

(Reuters)

BANGKOK, April 4 – Myanmar’s ostracised junta leader met the prime ministers of India and Thailand during a regional summit in Bangkok on Friday, a week after an earthquake devastated parts of his impoverished, war-torn nation, killing more than 3,100 people.

Shunned by most world leaders since leading a 2021 coup that overthrew an elected government, Min Aung Hlaing’s rare foreign trip exploits a window opened by the earthquake to ramp up, opens new tab diplomacy.

On the sidelines of the BIMSTEC summit, Min Aung Hlaing had two-way meetings with Thai premier Paetongtarn Shinawatra and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, with recovery from the quake a common topic.

With a protracted civil war ravaging Myanmar since the coup, Modi called for an ongoing post-earthquake ceasefire in the country of 55 million people to be made permanent, an Indian foreign ministry spokesman said.

“Political resolution to the conflict is the only way forward, starting with inclusive and credible elections,” spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said in a post on X.

Myanmar’s junta announced a temporary ceasefire on Wednesday till April 22 in operations against armed opponents, reflecting moves by a major rebel alliance and a shadow government that includes parts of the previous administration.

Before the quake, Myanmar’s junta had been pushing ahead with a plan to hold a general election in December, though critics have derided this as a sham to keep the generals in power through proxies.

“Min Aung Hlaing’s recent state visits to China and Russia have created new incentives for India to dial up its own engagement,” Singapore-based analyst Angshuman Choudhury saidThe U.S. president has hit Beijing with a cumulative new levy of 54%. And that’s a problem for Apple, which makes nearly all its phones in China.

“Moreover, under Modi, India has pitched itself as a humanitarian first responder in the region – so post-earthquake disaster relief becomes an easy pivot for a direct meeting.”

The junta leader’s discussions with the Thai prime minister included disaster prevention and transnational crime, Thai officials said.