Myanmar and the United States have taken another step toward closer relations by agreeing to work together on counter-narcotics operations.
Speaking to reporters, US Ambassador Derek Mitchell said that the agreement “is another step forward in our overall relationship.”
According to state-run The New Light of Myanmar, Mitchell ratified the agreement with Myanmar Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin in Naypyitaw on Thursday.
Under the agreement, Myanmar and the US will resume a joint opium yield survey in early 2013 before re-establishing “channels of cooperation” on counter-narcotics issues, The New Light of Myanmar said, adding that the program would address opium production and trafficking.
Under Myanmar’s former military government, anti-drugs operations were suspended in 2004 with the junta frequently cited as complicit in the drugs trade.
Myanmar is the world's second-largest producer of opium after Afghanistan, accounting for about 25 percent of global poppy production, according to United Nations data.
