The Belarusian ambassador to Myanmar Uladzimir Baravikou held talks with three junta ministers in Naypyitaw on Monday, including discussions with junta foreign minister Than Swe on marking the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties.
The Hanoi-based ambassador also met the junta’s commerce minister Htun Ohn and investment and foreign economic relations minister Dr Kan Zaw to boost Myanmar’s agricultural exports to Belarus and technological transfers from Belarusian.
Than Swe asked Baravikou for more scholarships to be granted to students from Myanmar at Belarusian universities, according to the junta’s media.
Belarus has been a key supplier of arms since the 2021 coup.
The two countries established diplomatic ties on September 22, 1999, under military dictator Than Shwe. Belarus sold 12 used Russian-made MiG 29 fighter jets to the regime in 2001.
The two armed forces formed the Joint Belarus-Myanmar Commission on Military-Technical Cooperation in 2008 which meets annually to discuss the arms trade, technology transfers and military training.
Then Belarusian Prime Minister Mikhail Myasnikovich visited the transitional president Thein Sein in December 2011 in Naypyitaw. The current junta chief Min Aung Hlaing visited Belarus in November 2014 as the commander-in-chief, where he met Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko and defense minister Yuri Zhadobin.
Lukashenko welcomed Min Aung Hlaing with the words: “I like your approach. Our dialogue is meant for a long-term perspective and we should follow this path no matter what.
“This contributes to the country’s economic growth and can also be useful for Belarus, as our country runs joint projects with Myanmar. There are very promising and big markets nearby,” the veteran dictator, according to a press release.
In 2015, Khin Aung Myint, the Upper House speaker under Thein Sein, visited Lukashenko and the MZKT military vehicle factory.
In November 2017, a Belarusian delegation offered to repair and modernize Myanmar’s armaments and military equipment and help produce advanced weapons.
In February 2020, Myanmar’s air-defense chief Lieutenant General Tin Maung Win visited Belarus to discuss the development, production, repair and modernization of Myanmar’s air defense systems.
Ties have deepened since the coup. In June 2021 Belarus voted against a United Nations resolution calling for an arms embargo on Myanmar and Belarusian deputy foreign minister Nikolai Borisevich met Dr Aung Moe Myint, the regime’s honorary consul, in Minsk.
While most countries other than Russia and North Korea have shunned Myanmar’s regime since the 2021 coup, Belarus and the junta have appointed new ambassadors and the regime opened a consulate in Minsk in September last year.
Than Swe attended the opening of the consulate and met his Belarusian counterpart Sergei Aleinik to discuss trade, economic, scientific, technical, educational and cultural cooperation.
Junta ministers Ko Ko Hlaing and Myint Kyaing have since visited Minsk.
