UN welcomes Myanmar's historic ceasefire agreement

The UN on Tuesday welcomed the historic signing of a draft nationwide ceasefire agreement (NCA) in Myanmar after negotiations for more than a year, said a statement of the UN Information Center.

On behalf of Special Adviser Vijay Nambiar, the statement said the signing of NCA between the government's Union Peace Making Work Committee (UPWC) and the ethnic armed groups' Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) was a first step towards a larger dialogue for settling political and military issues that would pave the way for an inclusive and harmonious future for Myanmar.

However, the statement added that it was a crucial first stage that must be crossed before embarking on the next chapter, Xinhua news agency reported.

Myanmar is still in a nascent stage of its transition, the statement pointed out, saying that "today's agreement is a signal that new levels of trust, confidence and cooperation are possible between former enemies and that the seeds of change in Myanmar are beginning to sprout".

The UPWC and NCCT signed the seven-chapter draft NCA on a preliminary basis here on Tuesday as a follow-up of finalisation of negotiations on Monday.

Witnessed by President U Thein Sein, five members each from the UPWC and the NCCT headed by U Aung Min and U Naing Han Tha, respectively, signed the agreement.

The event was also witnessed by the UN Special Envoy Vijay Nambiar's secretary and Chinese Foreign Ministry Special Envoy for Asian Affairs Wang Yingfan.

The finalisation of the draft NCA was made on the seventh day of the seventh round of peace talks between the government and ethnic armed groups after the remaining four points got resolved.

The peace process began in November 2013 when UPWC and NCCT met in Myitkyina, capital of Kachin state, for the very first time for the nationwide ceasefire talks, while the final and seventh round was held in Yangon from March 17 to 30.