The meeting focused on the upcoming 21st Century Panglong Conference, which will be held in August and is being organised by Burma's State Councillor Aung San Suu Kyi and President President Htin Kyaw. It will be a follow up to a meeting held by General Aung San in February 1947, with representatives from the Shan, Chin and Kachin communities.

On paper the agreement reached at Panglong in 1947 stipulated a significant level of autonomy for Burma’s ethnic groups in exchange for their decision to support Aung San’s bid for independence from Britain. Aung San, was assassinated just months after the agreement was reached, his successor U Nu, did little to implement the agreement.

At the Chiang Mai meeting participants discussed further steps for political dialogue, explained the Chin National Front (CNF)’s Chairman Pu Zing Cung, who participated at the meeting.

During his speech at the opening of the meeting the Karen National Union (KNU) chairman General Mutu Say Poe said: “As we are having a political dialogue while carrying arms, we have many rights and challenges. The advantage is that we can act as representatives for the forces that are still discussing [with the government] while carrying arms and we can work closely with political parties…..The inclusion of our ethnic brothers in peace and national reconciliation is very important.”

Many of the top leaders from the various ethnic armed groups that signed the NCA attended the meeting, which was held at the Holiday Inn in Chiang Mai.

Those groups attending the meeting included the Karen National Union (KNU), the Chin National Front (CNF), the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA), the Karen National Union/Karen National Liberation Army-Peace Council (KNU/KNLA-PC), the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army (RCSS/SSA), the Pa-O National Liberation Organization (PNLO), the Arakan Liberation Party (ALP) and the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF).

Translated by Thida Linn
Edited in English by Mark Inkey for BNI