Myanmar adviser holds positive talks with foreign minister
DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT
Visiting national security adviser of Myanmar Thaung Tun had an hour-long meeting with Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmod Ali yesterday at the state guest house Padma.
The topics of discussions between the two sides could not be immediately known.
There has also been no press release issued by the Foreign Ministry about the meeting which was attended, among others, by Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque and Ambassador to Myanmar Sufiur Rahman.
According to a meeting source, the meeting was very positive and held in a cordial atmosphere.
He, however, would not go into details of the discussions between the two sides.
The visit of the Myanmar national security adviser, who arrived yesterday, is taking place at the invitation of the Bangladesh government, which is continuously calling on its neighbour for a sustainable repatriation of its nationals, known as Rohingyas, living in the country for decades.
About 75,000 Rohingyas fled to Bangladesh to escape atrocities by the Myanmar security forces that began in October last year to add to the already 3-5 lakh living in Bangladesh creating various socioeconomic problems.
While in Dhaka, Myanmar adviser Tun, a retired career diplomat, is scheduled to make a courtesy call on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and hold a meeting with Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan.
It is not sure if the adviser is carrying any particular message for Bangladesh.
The Myanmar government, literally led by state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, created the new position of national security adviser in January with the status of a minister, whose job will be to advise the president and the government on internal and external threats.
In the last six months, adviser Tun became the second Myanmar high official to visit Bangladesh. In January, the Myanmar government sent its special envoy Kyaw Tin, a deputy foreign minister.
