Although the Union Peace-Making Working Committee (UPWC) and the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) have agreed to resume negotiations in another round of ceasefire talks, neither side is able to give a date for the meeting, according to spokespersons from the UPWC and the NCCT.
NCCT leader Nai Hongsar stressed the necessity for nationwide ceasefire talks to resume, after having been postponed multiple times for various reasons.
He said: “The talk must be held, but we do not know the exact date yet. After we get a response from their [the government] side about the Laiza issue [where government troops shelled the Kachin Independent Army (KIA) military training academy] that we submitted to them, we will have discussions with our members and then name a date for the talk."
Nai Hongsar continued that now is the time to rebuild trust between the government and ethnic armed groups, stating that the NCCT has requested the government side help restore trust.
He said: “The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) requests [that the government] withdraw its troops and weapons, and not conduct such an attack again.”
According to U Hla Maung Shwe, senior adviser to the Myanmar Peace Center (MPC), the MPC will meet with the NCCT on 15th December in Chiang Mai, Thailand, to discuss resuming ceasefire talks.
He said: “When we [the MPC] meet with the NCCT next time, I think that they will know the dates that they will be available, and the number of their representatives. If the talk does not take place before Christmas Day, then it will take place in early January 2015,” said U Hla Maung Shwe.
According to U Hla Maung Shwe, the UPWC’s Minister U Aung Min offered to meet with the NCCT on 18th December and has already responded to the NCCT’s inquiries regarding the Laiza attack. U Hla Maung Shwe noted that Minister U Aung Min’s response seemed to be very positive.
“I think the talk will take place, but the official date for the talk will be announced on 15th December” said U Hla Maung Shwe.
Following the UPWC and NCCT’s sixth-round talks, both sides agreed to hold another round of talks in October. However, talks have been postponed due to the government troops’ offensive attacks in ethnic areas, including the government troops' 19th November attack on the KIA’s military training academy, which resulted in the death of more than 20 solider cadets.
