“Deep distrust still remains on each side,” Nyo Ohn Myint, Associate Director, Peace and Dialogue Program of the Rangoon-based Myanmar Peace Center (MPC) told SHAN, “that needs to be overcome.”

Dr Hannes Siebert, who has been involved in several peace processes in Colombia, Yemen, Nepal and Lebanon, among others, cautions that one should not expect too much from each round of talks. “Most single text documents, in my experience, have not been finalized after a few drafts,” he said.

The NCCT and the UPWC, since last November, have met 8 times. The first combined draft was drawn up at the 7th meeting, 5-8 April, and the second at the 8th, 25-23 May.

Some of the progresses made include:

The agreement to include the establishment of a Union Armed Forces on the agenda at the upcoming political dialogue phase

• Joint demining
• Protection of civilians

The government has also agreed not to set acceptance of the military-drawn 2008 constitution as a pre-condition.

Several disagreements still divide both sides. One ethnic leader told SHAN, “The main obstacle however is still the mindset:

• Some, forgetting that they are negotiators, come to the talks as if they were entering debates
• We are also apt to think that our demands are just, while the other side’s are insincere. Instead we should judge them as human nature. Everyone wants to get the best of a bargain. Negotiators should therefore not be disturbed by it.”

The NCCT is due to meet again with their leaders at what is being dubbed as a Third Summit (First in October and the Second in January) to discuss on how much it should give and take at the next round of talks with the UPWC.

The venue, according to the sources, may possibly be Laiza, the Kachin stronghold on the Sino Burma border, as Thailand, under military rule since 22 May, has banned unusual gatherings of more than 5 people. The tentative date is 10-13 June.