Military support to ethnic armed groups in Myanmar may undermine Bangladesh’s security

[Black_cats]

Military support to ethnic armed groups in Myanmar may undermine Bangladesh’s security​

It has been two years since the military coup in Myanmar, and there is no peace in sight

UNB
UNB
February 22, 2023 5:56 AM

Brig Gen (Retd) M Sakhawat Hussain on Wednesday said that using a liberal interpretation of the non-lethal assistance clause may allow the United States to provide military support to the various ethnic armed organizations (EAO) in Myanmar which “may undermine” Bangladesh's security as these groups have some ties to the same separatist factions operating in the country.

He made the remarks while addressing at a colloquium on Impacts of “BURMA Act” on Bangladesh-Myanmar bordering region.

Minister of Health and Education, National Unity Government (NUG) of Myanmar Professor Zaw Wai Soe today expressed gratitude for the passing of the BURMA Act and for US support.

He, however, reiterated that it does not rely on any one single superpower, rather believes in a multilateral response to be the ideal way to address the current conflict.

NUG officially recognizes the Rohingya as an ethnic group of Myanmar and is in favour of peaceful and full repatriation of Rohingya from Bangladesh to Myanmar.

It has been two years since the military coup in Myanmar, and there is no peace in sight.

Late last December, the United States passed the BURMA Act, a comprehensive law designed to simultaneously sanction Myanmar's military junta while providing support to the country's numerous democratic forces.

In view of these changes, the Centre for Peace Studies (CPS) of the South Asian Institute of Policy and Governance (SIPG) at North South University hosted the colloquium.

Moderated by Dr Sk Tawfique M Haque, director of SIPG, the seminar was addressed by SIPG Senior Fellow and former Election Commissioner Brig Gen (retd) Dr M Sakhawat Hussain, Sufiur Rahman, Bangladesh's ambassador to Switzerland and the permanent representative to the UN, former Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque, and Dr Raymond Kwun-Sun Lau, Assistant professor at the Department of Political Science and Sociology of NSU.

Mohammad Sufiur Rahman highlighted the emergence of the Arakan Army as a key player in the conflict and emphasized how reaching a resolution on the Rohingya issue between Bangladesh and Myanmar cannot be achieved without taking the Arakan Army's interests into account.

Shahidul Haque discussed Asean's role in the conflict and pointed to its repeated shortcomings in addressing the conflict in Myanmar, drawing particular attention to its negligence in understanding the plight of the numerous ethnic minorities in the country.

Dr Raymond Kwun-Sun Lau, underscored the geopolitical and strategic importance of the Rakhine State to regional powers such as India and China, both for its vast reserves of hydrocarbons as well as its location as a key area for connectivity projects that links India to its northeast region and reinforces China's Belt-and-Road Initiative (BRI) respectively.

The event was also attended by experts and practitioners of geopolitics, representatives from international agencies, government officials, researchers, journalists, faculty members and students of NSU.

US says Burma Act will not contribute to regional violence

Counsellor Chollet has emphasized continued US support to Bangladesh in addressing Rohingya issues

www.dhakatribune.com

 

[Abu Shaleh Rumi]

US will fuk burma just to counter Chinese interest. If we are worried about our internal security we should fortify our border with latest technologies...

 

[Species]

Proxies can be used if Myanmar begins to directly go against Bangladesh's security interests.

It will weaken Myanmar's junta but wouldn't produce a permanent solution. What we need is bringing both China and US to the table and seek a decision on the future of Myanmar.

I think the best solution would be to let the major ethnic groups form their own sovereign states as Myanmar has still failed to integrate its population even after 7 decades since independence.

China can be allowed to construct pipelines to Bay of Bengal while their energy agreements with Myanmar remains intact.

Both China and the US will have to agree to not having any military installations in Bay of Bengal.

That's win-win for all.

 

[bluesky]

China wants to use the Sittwe port in Arakan. China can then stop using the Singapore Port.

America adopted recently the "Burma Act" in order to stop China from coming to Sitwe Port.

All the recent visits to BD by American high officials are to promote and support the Burma Act of America.

American goal is to stop China from entering Sittwe, and America wants to build bases in Teknaf in the south and another probably very near Panchgarh in the very northern tip. Chinese Doklam is only 100 km north of there.

But, both India and China are objecting to building these two bases.

 

[Abu Shaleh Rumi]

Both China and the US will have to agree to not having any military installations in Bay of Bengal.

Ah this might happen in a parallel universe but not here...

 

[casual]

Proxies can be used if Myanmar begins to directly go against Bangladesh's security interests.

It will weaken Myanmar's junta but wouldn't produce a permanent solution. What we need is bringing both China and US to the table and seek a decision on the future of Myanmar.

I think the best solution would be to let the major ethnic groups form their own sovereign states as Myanmar has still failed to integrate its population even after 7 decades since independence.

China can be allowed to construct pipelines to Bay of Bengal while their energy agreements with Myanmar remains intact.

Both China and the US will have to agree to not having any military installations in Bay of Bengal.

That's win-win for all.

why include US at all?

 

[bluesky]

Instead of making fusses in the newspapers, Brigadier Shakawat should collect the Burmese Act of America. The US does not want China to access BoB via Burma/ Arakan.

Every other thing falls to satisfy this condition. No wonder, America so eagerly seeks BD assistance and is seeking a treaty with it.