Govt and Northern Alliance prepare to meet in February, venue yet to be confirmed

By Khin Tharaphy Oo 29 Jan 2021

Khin Tharaphy Oo | DMG
29 January 2021, Sittwe 

The Myanmar government’s peace negotiators and the Northern Alliance are planning to meet next month, according to the Peace-talk Creation Group (PCG), which is brokering talks between the two sides. 

The Northern Alliance is a military coalition composed of four ethnic armed groups — the Arakan Army (AA), Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) and Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA). 

“They said they would meet between January 31 and February 3. But they haven’t yet reached agreement over the meeting venue,” said Lamai Gwan Ja of the PCG. 

The government had previously proposed meeting in Kachin State’s Myitkyina or Shan State’s Kengtung, but the Northern Alliance has since said it prefers to meet in China’s Yunnan Province. 

“The government wants to meet inside the country, but the Northern Alliance asked to meet in China. They are still discussing the venue,” said Lamai Gwan Ja. 

Leaders of the Northern Alliance are still discussing the agenda for their meeting with the government, said TNLA spokesman Major Mai Aik Kyaw. 

“Our leaders are still discussing the agenda. However, I don’t know what they are discussing,” he told DMG. 

The government reportedly sent drafts of preliminary bilateral ceasefire agreements to the Northern Alliance members on December 16. 

President’s Office spokesman U Zaw Htay said at the press conference in Naypyitaw earlier this month that the government would hold separate peace talks with each of the four groups. 

The talks will focus on the issues of troop deployments, internally displaced people (IDPs), regional development, and holding of elections in places where voting was cancelled in November, said U Zaw Htay, adding that the government would seek to reach solid agreement with the armed groups for a permanent ceasefire in their concerned areas. 

Of the four groups, only the TNLA is engaged in ongoing fighting with Myanmar’s military (Tatmadaw), in northern Shan State. 

In Arakan State, the Tatmadaw and the AA have been observing an unofficial ceasefire for almost three months, since early November. 

Myanmar’s military on Thursday extended an ongoing ceasefire through February 28, and for the first time since it has declared several iterations of its unilateral accord, Arakan State was included. Prior declarations had de facto excluded Arakan State because the Arakan Army is active in much of the state, and has been designated a terrorist group.