A delegation of senior officials from the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) sat down yesterday with their counterparts from Burma's government to take part in peace negotiations in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin State. The head of the KIO’s armed forces, Maj-Gen Sumlut Gun Maw, attended the talks, and the KIO delegation was officially led by Sumlut Gam, the KIO’s education minister.
The government team was led by Minister Aung Min, who was supported by staff from the Myanmar Peace Centre, a government-controlled entity funded by the European Union and the Norwegian government.
The talks were observed by representatives from several other armed groups, including the Chin National Front (CNF); the Pa-O National Liberation Organization (PNLO); and the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC). Chinese diplomat Wang Ying Fan and UN special envoy Vijay Nambiar’s assistant, Mariann Hagen, also observed the peace talks.
This is the first time both sides have sat down for talks since heavy fighting resumed in southeastern Kachin State in early April. Despite all the hand-shaking and expressions of goodwill by both sides there was little progress during the first day of talks. Rather, the parties simply reaffirmed their previous pledge of creating a “conflict mediation team” as part of the “joint monitoring mechanism” that was established under an agreement reached on 10 October, 2013. As such,
The peace talks will continue on Wednesday, although no significant breakthroughs are expected.
A joint statement released at the end of the first day said: “Both sides had a frank discussion about the incidents that occurred after the meetings in May and October, 2013 and focused on the avoidance of incidents that can hinder ongoing realization of the [nation-wide] peace process.”
The joint statement also said that “Matters related to false reports [in] some media that disrupted mutual understanding were also discussed at the meeting.” Most likely, this statement is a reference to a recent Weekly 11 report which misquoted certain words Gun Maw told The Irrawaddy Magazine during his interview with the magazine. The way Gun Ma’s statements were quoted apparently suggested that the KIO wants independence—even though during the 1970’s the KIO officially rejected its position of creating an independent country, opting instead to press for more autonomy within Burma.
The commander-in-chief of Burma's armed forces, Min Aung Hlaing, has not attended any of the peace talks between Burma’s government and the KIO, leading some commentators to question the relevance and efficacy of the talks. Min Aung Hlaing has also refused to meet opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi despite repeated requests to do so.
A photo caption accompanying an English-language article posted on Radio Free Asia’s website on Tuesday incorrectly identified the Burmese army officer sitting with KIO Maj-Gen Gun Maw as “Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.” However, the officer in the photo was actually the head of Burma’s Northern Command, Maj- Gen Tun Tun Naung.
Another prominent Burmese military figure who failed to attend the peace talks was Lt. Gen. Myint Soe, Chief of Burma’s “Bureau of Special Operations No. 1.” Gen. Myint Soe leads the operations of Burma’s armed forces in Kachin State and attended last year’s peace talks, but he was conspicuously absent from Tuesday’s peace talks between the KIO and Burma’s government.
