Page 7 - Myanmar

Why is China set to hold live-fire military drills along Myanmar border?

In response to growing security concerns, China had held two live-fire drills in April along its border with Myanmar

China conducting military patrols near Myanmar border as civil war rages

China's military is carrying out armed patrols near the Myanmar border this week, where the government is concerned about potential fallout from fierce fighting in a civil war on the other side. Troops were deployed to Yunnan province in southwestern China on Monday to test their ability to maintain security in border areas, the military's Southern Theater Command said. An alliance of ethnic militias has dealt a series of setbacks to Myanmar's military in the country's northeast, which is near China. Five people were injured on the Chinese side in January by a stray artillery shell. Live-fire drills will be held from Tuesday to Thursday in four locations including two in Ruili city, the Yunnan government said. The units will carry out armed patrols and joint air-ground patrols to test their ability to mobilize quickly, block and control and strike together, the southern command said in a statement. The military previously held live-fire drills near the Myanmar border in ...

UN rights chief raises alarm about trapped Rohingya civilians in Myanmar

The UN's human rights chief joined a chorus of concern on Friday for members of Myanmar's Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority after many were reported killed in recent fighting between the military government and the Arakan Army, an armed ethnic rebel group. According to a statement from the Geneva office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Trk, he expressed grave alarm and raised profound concerns about the sharply deteriorating situation across Myanmar, particularly in Rakhine State where hundreds of civilians have reportedly been killed while trying to flee the fighting. It said his agency had documented that both the military and the Arakan Army, which now controls most of the townships in Rakhine, have committed serious human rights violations and abuses against the Rohingya, including extrajudicial killings, some involving beheadings, abductions, forced recruitment, indiscriminate bombardments of towns and villages using drones and artillery, and arson attacks. The

What peace in Bangladesh, Myanmar means for security in India's Northeast

Together with the escalation in Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in Jammu, the deteriorating security architecture in Myanmar and Bangladesh will test the Indian government in new and complex ways

Myanmar releases Japanese exec arrested for selling rice above set prices

A Japanese business executive who was detained in Myanmar for more than a month has been released after being convicted of violating rice pricing rules, officials said Tuesday. Hiroshi Kasamatsu, a director of the Myanmar supermarket Aeon Orange, was in custody in Myanmar since his June 30 arrest for selling rice at prices above the official regulations. Japan's Foreign Ministry confirmed Monday that the Japanese national was convicted of violating law related to daily necessities and service. He was sentenced to one year in prison and fined 500,000 kyat (about USD 150). Kasamatsu was freed Monday afternoon, said Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, spokesperson for the Myanmar's ruling military council. The Japanese Foreign Ministry said it was unclear if Kasamatsu would stay in Myanmar or return to Japan. He was released from custody and is in good health, it said, but declined to give further details. Rice is vital in Myanmar, a country struggling to stabilize its economy as civil war disrup

Amid maritime disputes, Myanmar crisis, Asean meetings joined by US, China

Top diplomats from Southeast Asia convened Saturday in the Laotian capital with their powerful dialogue partners in the last of the three-day regional talks that have grappled with tensions over territorial claims in the South China Sea, escalating fighting in Myanmar, and regional rivalry. Meetings on Saturday will bring together in the same room allies of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations including the United States, China, Russia, Japan, India and Australia to bolster their relationships and discuss key security issues and other regional affairs. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived Saturday in Vientiane to meet with the ASEAN foreign ministers. He is also expected to meet on the sidelines with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, as both countries are looking to expand their influence in the region. Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith opened the first meeting of the day with China, Japan and South Korea by saying he hopes the cooperation framework, called ..

NSA Doval visits Myanmar, expresses concerns over ongoing violence

NSA Ajit Doval met his Myanmarese counterpart Admiral Moe Aung and is understood to have conveyed New Delhi's concerns over the impact of violence and instability in Myanmar on its border with India. Doval is in Myanmarese capital Naypyidaw to attend a meeting of security chiefs of member nations of BIMSTEC grouping, according to the Indian embassy in Yangon. Myanmar has been witnessing wide-spread violent protests demanding restoration of democracy since the military seized power in a coup on February 1, 2021. Several parts of Myanmar have been witnessing intense fighting between the military junta and resistance forces. The resistance forces have already captured several towns. "NSA Shri Ajit Doval is leading the Indian delegation at the 4th Annual Meeting of #BIMSTEC Security Chiefs being held in Naypyitaw today. He met with the Myanmar NSA Admiral Moe Aung yesterday, and BIMSTEC Security Chiefs called on Prime Minister Senior General Min Aung Hlaing," the Indian embassy said in

Myanmar violence tops discussion as Southeast Asian diplomats meet in Laos

Southeast Asian foreign ministers and top diplomats from key partners including the United States and China were gathering in the Laotian capital on Thursday for the start of three days of talks expected to focus on the increasingly violent civil war in Myanmar, tensions in the South China Sea and other regional issues. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi are expected to hold one-on-one talks on the sidelines of the meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Vientiane, which come as both Beijing and Washington are looking to expand their influence in the region. Lao Foreign Minister Saleumxay Kommasith thanked ASEAN members and partners for their unwavering collective effort that has led to its past achievements and emphasized the importance of the bloc's continuous work to promote peace and stability. In light of the rapid and complex geopolitical and geoeconomic changes, we need to further enhance ASEAN centrality and unity so

Myanmar's civil war has seen rise in attacks on schools, say researchers

An intensification of fighting in Myanmar's civil war has brought a sharp increase in destructive attacks on schools, a group that monitors armed conflict in the Southeast Asian nation said in a report Saturday. Myanmar Witness said the attacks have further strained Myanmar's already fractured school system, taking away education for millions of children who have also been forced to flee their homes, miss vaccinations and suffer from inadequate nutrition. The group, a project of the United Kingdom-based Centre for Information Resilience, identified a total of 174 attacks on Myanmar schools and universities since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi three years ago. It said the count came from evidence in social media and news reports. Other groups have suggested higher numbers of attacks. The Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack, an advocacy group based in New York, counted over 245 reports of attacks on schools and 190 reports of ..

Biometric details of 24 Myanmar citizens collected: Manipur CM Singh

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said that biometric details of 24 people from Myanmar, including 16 women, were collected in Tengnoupal district as part of an exercise to identify illegal immigrants from the neighbouring country. The state police along with Assam Rifles personnel and a team of officials collected the biometric details of these Myanmarese people residing in Govajang village on Wednesday, he said. "...a combined team of DC, Tengnoupal led by Md. Ejaj, SDO, Moreh, E-Coy 5 AR, Moreh and OC, Moreh Police Station along with joint bio-metric team of Tengnoupal conducted search of houses in Govajang Village for purpose of re-verification/re-identification of individuals residing in the village," Singh posted on Facebook. "During the exercise, 24 (Male-8, Female-16) of Myanmar origin were identified. Further, their biometric were captured by the team," he said. The state government had started the identification process earlier, but it came to a halt after violence br

Myanmar junta arrests 11 for inflating rice prices, including Japanese

In Tokyo, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters that a Japanese national is being questioned by police in Myanmar's commercial capital Yangon

EAM meets Myanmar dy PM, flags concerns over impact of violence on border

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday conveyed to his Myanmarese counterpart U Than Shwe India's "deep concern" over the impact of violence and instability in Myanmar on the Indian border and sought cooperation for early return of Indians trapped in Myawaddy town. Jaishankar met Shwe, also Myanmar's deputy prime minister, in Delhi, in the first publicly acknowledged engagement in India with a senior leader of the military junta since it seized power in a coup on February 1, 2021. Shwe was transiting through New Delhi while returning to Myanmar from a foreign trip. In a post on 'X' following the meeting, Jaishankar said he pressed for "credible security" to India's ongoing projects in Myanmar and called for early return to the path of democratic transition in that country. The external affairs minister particularly pointed out about the impact of continuing violence and instability in that country on the Indian border and especially raised the issue of illegal narcotic

As ethnic armed group seized town in Myanmar, Muslim Rohingyas flee again

A powerful ethnic armed group fighting Myanmar's military government in the country's western state of Rakhine claimed Saturday to have seized a town near the border with Bangladesh, marking the latest in a series of victories for foes of the country's military government. Members of the state's Muslim Rohingya ethnic minority, targets of deadly army-directed violence in 2017, appear to have been the main victims of fighting in the town of Buthidaung, where the Arakan Army claims to have chased out forces of the military government. There are contradictory accounts of who is to blame for the reported burning of the town, compelling its Rohingya residents to flee. The competing claims could not be verified independently, with access to the internet and mobile phone services in the area mostly cut off. Khaing Thukha, a spokesperson for the Arakan Army, told The Associated Press by text message from an undisclosed location that his group had seized Buthidaung after capturing all the .

Casualties rise in Myanmar's war as forces tighten noose around military

Six months into an offensive against Myanmar 's military government, opposition forces have made massive gains, but civilian casualties are rising sharply as regime troops increasingly turn toward scorched-earth tactics in the Southeast Asian country's bitter civil war. There is pressure on all fronts from powerful militias drawn from Myanmar's ethnic minority groups and newer resistance forces. Troops are retaliating with air, naval and artillery strikes on hospitals and other facilities where the opposition could be sheltered or aided. When the mass of people rise up against them, I think it terrifies them, said Dave Eubank, a former U.S. Special Forces soldier who founded the Free Burma Rangers, a humanitarian aid organization that has provided assistance to both combatants and civilians in Myanmar since the 1990s. They know that hospitals, churches, schools and monasteries are important places for human care, and gathering, and symbols and they hammer them," said Eubank. "That'

1,300 people from Myanmar flee into Thailand after clashes in border town

About 1,300 people have fled from eastern Myanmar into Thailand, officials said Saturday, as fresh fighting erupted at a border town that has recently been captured by ethnic guerillas. Fighters from the Karen ethnic minority last week captured the last of the Myanmar army's outposts in and around Myawaddy, which is connected to Thailand by two bridges across the Moei River. The latest clashes were triggered in the morning when the Karen guerillas launched an attack against Myanmar troops who were hiding near the 2nd Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge, a major crossing point for trade with Thailand, said police chief Pittayakorn Phetcharat in Thailand's Mae Sot district. He estimated about 1,300 people fled into Thailand. Thai officials reported people had started crossing since Friday following clashes in several areas of Myawaddy. The fall of Myawaddy is a major setback for the military that seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021. Myanmar's once-mighty

Best of BS Opinion: Our forgotten neighbour, healthy development & more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

Our forgotten neighbour

Recent trends in Myanmar civil war make a case for India to upgrade its links with anti-junta forces

Myanmar and regional security

The civil war in the country has spilled over into India and the time may have come to review our tacit support to the junta

'Precarious' situation in Myanmar: India relocates staff from consulate

India on Friday said it relocated its staff from its consulate in Myanmarese city of Sittwe to Yangon in view of the precarious security situation in that region of Myanmar. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India is closely monitoring the situation in Myanmar, adding the Indian consulate in Mandalay remains functional. Asked about reports of kidnapping of three Indian youths, he said the Indian embassy is working on the matter and hoped that they would be back home soon. Several parts of Myanmar have been witnessing intense fighting between the military junta and resistance forces. The resistance forces have already captured several towns. The anti-junta forces seized control of several military bases and a command centre at Myawaddy last week. Jaiswal said the security situation in Myanmar remains "precarious" and is deteriorating. "We are closely monitoring the security situation in Myanmar, particularly in the Rakhine State. Necessary steps have been

Nation's security top priority: Jaishankar on Indo-Myanmar border fencing

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said the Centre decided to fence the Indo-Myanmar border and end the Free Movement Regime (FMR) because the government gives top priority to the country's security. He said this while speaking to reporters after releasing the BJP manifesto in Aizawl. Thousands of people from Myanmar have taken refuge in various north-eastern states, especially in Mizoram, after fleeing their country following a military coup in February 2021. "I think the security of our country, security of our states, including Mizoram, require us to take certain precautions. But the precautions that we are taking right now are in response to a certain situation. Even right now our neighbour is going through a very difficult phase. If things were normal in Myanmar, this would not have happened," Jaishankar said. He said that the Centre is very sensitive to the interests of people, traditions, customs and relationships across the border. "Right now it is importan