Myanmar strongly rejected the President of Timor-Leste’s misuse of international forums to make false statements on Myanmar’s internal affairs, and urged Timor-Leste to refrain from making false statements that damage Myanmar’s image and to respect and abide by the purposes and principles of the ASEAN Charter as a responsible ASEAN member.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar regrets the misleading statements made by the President of Timor-Leste, Mr. José Ramos Horta, at the Shangri-La Dialogue held in Singapore on May 30 and the ASEAN and East Asia Economic Research (ERIA) meeting held in Jakarta on June 2.
This is an interference in Myanmar’s internal affairs and is contrary to the principles of the ASEAN Charter, non-interference in the internal affairs of ASEAN member states, and respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity. Moreover, these statements have seriously damaged the Myanmar-Timor-Leste bilateral relations and damaged the spirit of the ASEAN family. The peace process in Myanmar is deeply complicated due to historical circumstances and the political, ethnic and economic interests of armed groups.
The Myanmar government is firmly committed to pursuing national reconciliation and peace through a Myanmar-led process, and invites ethnic armed groups that have signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) and non-signatories to participate in peace talks, and PDF members to return to the legal framework and resolve the situation through political means.
Contrary to the misleading statements of the Timor-Leste President, most parts of Myanmar are peaceful and stable. The statement said that there is limited security in some border areas, where security forces are responding defensively to attacks by armed groups. It also invited anyone to come and see for themselves the true situation on the ground in Myanmar, which is peaceful and stable.
