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Myanmar

KIO holds talks with President, takes new step to achieving peace

Nay Pyi Taw, 16 March

A nationwide ceasefire moved a step closer to reality Monday in Nay Pyi Taw as the Kachin Independence Organization held its first-ever meeting with President U Thein Sein and reaffirmed its commitment to the ongoing peace process.

In his opening remarks, President U Thein Sein stressed the important role of key players in the peacemaking process and called for ending the decades-long armed conflict through negotiation.

The eight-member KIO delegation met with the president one day before the 7th peace talks between the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team comprising 16 ethnic armed groups and the Union Peacemaking Work Committee of the government in Yangon.

The 7th talks between the NCCT and UPWC will hear the viewpoints of all NCCT members, and both sides will negotiate the timeframe of the ongoing nationwide ceasefire process, said Maj-Gen Guan Maw of the Kachin Independence Army.

He also urged the population to be optimistic about the ongoing peacemaking process, pledging to work until it is successful.

During the meeting, on behalf of NCCT members, the KIO pledged that ethnic races would never splinter off from the country and they were also committed to gaining a nationwide ceasefire in order to bring an end to decades of armed conflicts, said U Aung Min, Vice Chairman of the UPWC, who also participated in the talks between KIO and President U Thein Sein.

The KIO also held talks with Vice President Dr Sai Mauk Kham, chairman of the Union Peacemaking Work Committee, the day before meeting with the president.

At the meeting, the vice president said peace is within arm’s length, urging the KIO to continue to its efforts with patience and far-sighted vision.

The current mission of the KIO delegation, comprising political and military representatives, is significant as it held face to-face talks with the vice president Sunday and with the president Monday for the first time.

Dr La Ja, General Secretary of KIO, said in his opening remarks at the talks that the delegation will seek rapid progress in the peace process.

The UPWC and the NCCT are scheduled to hold talks in Yangon on Tuesday.