Northern Military Alliance Members to Meet Govt Peace Commission

Three members of the Northern Military Alliance of ethnic armed groups will meet with the Burmese government’s peace commission in China’s Yunnan province on Wednesday, according to a spokesperson from the ethnic armed coalition.

The Arakan Army’s (AA) information department in-charge, Khaing Thukha, confirmed the upcoming meeting to NMG, adding that it will take place in Kunming.

“Our best hope is for peace. Our discussions will depend on what we both want to discuss,” he said. Khaing Thukha added that if the government delegation wishes to hold talks on the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA)—to which the Northern Military Alliance are not signatories—then they will bring up the policy of the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC), another ethnic alliance of which they are members. The FPNCC demands an alternative route to peace than the roadmap centering on the NCA.

The three Northern Military Alliance members in attendance will be the AA, the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army. The fourth member, the Kachin Independence Army, is not scheduled to participate in the meeting.

The last meeting between the armed groups and the peace commission was held on September 5 in Kunming, at which they also agreed to a later meeting in October. The upcoming meeting in was organized after the commission’s chairperson, Dr. Tin Myo Win, sent an invitation letter to the Northern Alliance members.