Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing left for Bangkok on Thursday to attend a regional summit, as the country reels in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake and ongoing regime airstrikes and ground assaults.
The two-day meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), hosted by Thailand, will see the junta boss hold sideline talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, The Irrawaddy has learned. India was among the first countries to send quake aid and rescue teams to Myanmar.
The BIMSTEC regional bloc consists of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
Junta state media announced on Wednesday that Min Aung Hlaing would join the summit on Thursday and Friday. His trip will reportedly include discussions with senior regional government officials on Myanmar’s post-quake situation and ongoing rescue and relief efforts.
“He will also explore opportunities for international cooperation in disaster response and recovery,” the announcements said.
The death toll from Friday’s quake, the strongest recorded in Myanmar since 1912, had risen to 3,085, with 4,715 people injured and 341 still missing as of Thursday morning, according to junta media. Fatalities are expected to rise steadily as more ruined buildings are searched.
Despite the scale of devastation and ongoing rescue efforts, the junta has conducted at least 21 air and artillery strikes on civilians in resistance-held areas since the quake hit Sagaing, Magwe regions and Shan, Kachin, Rakhine and Karenni states, by The Irrawaddy’s count. This figure is expected to rise as more reports of attacks are verified.
On Tuesday alone, the junta conducted at least five attacks after several ethnic armed groups declared temporary ceasefires to facilitate relief efforts.
Hours before Min Aung Hlaing’s departure for the summit, the junta followed suit by announcing a unilateral ceasefire until April 22. However, the junta launched night-time airstrikes on Kachin State’s Bhamo Township just a hours after the announcement, according to the Kachin Independence Organization, a major ethnic resistance group. On Thursday morning, it conducted airstrikes on Kachin’s Indawgyi area.
Min Aung Hlaing’s foray to Bangkok marks only his second regional trip since he led the military coup in 2021. He is banned from attending meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) over his failure to implement the bloc’s peace plan for Myanmar.
The junta boss’ BIMSTEC attendance sparked protests from ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights and other local and international rights groups, who accused the junta of grave human rights violations, including the killing of thousands of civilians, arbitrary arrests, atrocities, and war crimes.
Min Aung Hlaing’s close ties with Thailand’s influential former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra have fuelled speculation of a meeting in Bangkok. While in power, Thaksin also maintained close relations with Min Aung Hlaing’s predecessors in the military dictatorship.
Last year, Thaksin held discreet meetings with Myanmar opposition groups and certain ethnic revolutionary organizations (EROs), but the peace effort failed to yield results.
Thaksin currently advises Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim in his role as ASEAN chairman.
