Word 'Rohingya' missing from Suu Kyi's letter to
PM
Diplomatic Correspondent
Myanmar wants to address the Rohingya issue and other
concerns in a spirit of good neighborliness, 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 neighborliness,
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 neighboring 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 neighboring
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 neighborliness,
trust and mutual understanding between the two countries.