Word 'Rohingya' missing from Suu Kyi's letter to PM
January 15, 2017
Myanmar wants to address the Rohingya issue and other concerns in a spirit of good neighbourliness, trust and mutual understanding.
Myanmar State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi conveyed this message to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a letter, which was handed over to the PM on Wednesday by Myanmar's State Minister for Foreign Affairs U Kyaw Tin, who visited Dhaka recently as a special envoy.
“The special envoy also presented to the prime minister the state counsellor's letter expressing her confidence that Myanmar and Bangladesh would be able to address the issues of mutual concern in a spirit of good neighbourliness, trust and mutual understanding between the two countries,” according to a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar.
There is no mention of the word "Rohingya" in the statement.
The press release, which is available in the website of Ministry of Information of Myanmar, said Myanmar and Bangladesh “have agreed to start consultations for verification and repatriation of those who are proved to have fled from Myanmar following the 9 October attacks against police outposts.”
The ministry released the statement following the visit of U Kyaw Tin to Bangladesh as special envoy of the state counsellor from January 10-13, it said.
The special envoy had separate meetings with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque.
During the meetings with the foreign minister and foreign secretary, it said, the two sides cordially discussed issues of mutual interest and expressed the common desire to deepen bilateral relations and cooperation between Myanmar and Bangladesh and to resume the existing annual bilateral consultation mechanisms as well as to hold regular meetings between the two border security forces and army-to-army talks.
They also stressed the importance of exchanging information with a view to maintaining peace and security along the border and to preventing infiltration of terrorists.
The statement said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed her desire to strengthen ties with its neighbouring countries and reiterated Bangladesh's zero tolerance policy against terrorism. She also stressed that Bangladesh would not allow its soil to be used for terrorist acts against its neighbouring countries and sought Myanmar's cooperation to resolve the border issues through negotiations.
The special envoy also presented to the PM the state counsellor's letter expressing her confidence that Myanmar and Bangladesh would be able to address the issues of mutual concern in a spirit of good neighbourliness, trust and mutual understanding between the two countries.
