Myanmar is in process of reforming its military: Thein Sein

The military in Myanmar, which ruled the country with an iron hand for decades, is now being reformed for its role in the democratisation and peace building process, President Thein Sein has said as he pushed the US leadership to lift remaining sanctions on his country.
On the first bilateral visit to the US by a President of Myanmar in 50 years, Thein Shein called for support and patience from the US.
"We are trying hard to end Myanmar's isolation, see the removal of all sanctions, and make the contributions we can to both regional and global security and development," Thein Sein said in his address.

Noting the significance of current transformation, he said, "I believe what we are trying to achieve in Myanmar is quite unprecedented. We are transitioning from an authoritarian regime to a democratic one and from a centralised economy to one based on a free market," he said.
"We are engaged in a political dialog process and national reconciliation. We are also reengaging with many governments and international institutions for the first time in decades, all under the burden of remaining economic sanctions," he said, in his address soon after his meeting with the US prez.
"We are a poor country. Many of our institutions must be adjusted, others entirely reformed. Ne ones must be created. Mentalities must change. We must move towards a state that sees itself first and foremost as the servant of the people. After decades of authoritarian rule this is no easy task," he noted.

He hoped Myanmar towards an economy that is equitable, fair and based on a level playing field with support from the US and international community.

"To achieve all this we need maximum international support, including from the United States, to train and educate, share knowledge, trade and invest, and encourage others to do the same," Thein Sein said.
During this important phase of Myanmar, he said one must recognise the role of military. "We must recognise the important role of Myanmar Military during this democratisation process. Under the past system, Military took charge of the nation's stability from security point of view. Now, we are in the process of reforming the Military for its role in the democratisation and peace building processes," he said.

We must nurture policy-based political parties. But at this critical juncture, we must also rise above partisan politics and set our aims towards a greater nation-building and state-building agenda.
Thein Sein said a key part of his nation building agenda will be to reach peace agreements with all non-state armed groups.
"My government has reached ceasefires with ten non-state armed groups. I am confident we can soon reach a ceasefire with the remaining major non-state armed group, the Kachin Independence Organisation and Army," he said.
"But that is not enough. Our goal cannot be less than sustainable peace. It will mean compromise. It will mean the further devolution of power to the state and regional levels. It will mean new agreements on resource sharing. We wish to do this in a way that includes all citizens.

We want to include not only the armed groups, but also political parties and civil society from all ethnic communities in the political dialogues to come. Peace must be rooted in the broadest possible participation of public support," he said.
On Tuesday, the visiting Foreign Leader would meet top American lawmakers at the Capitol Hill.