BANGKOK, Sept 19 — Thailand wants to work with warring sides in Myanmar to repair a key highway cutting through the conflict-ridden country as it seeks to stabilise borders areas and keep trade routes open, Thailand Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa said today.
Thailand has the support of Asean and India in the push to rebuild parts of the Asian Highway 1 (AH-1) that was damaged by recent fighting, he told reporters.
Laos, current Asean chair, has also asked Thailand to host a regional meeting on Myanmar before the end of the year, he said, without providing further details.
“I don’t think Myanmar problems can be addressed militarily, but through constructive dialogue,” Maris said.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since February 2021, when its powerful generals ousted an elected civilian government, triggering a protest movement that has morphed into an armed rebellion against the ruling junta.
The military government has lost control of swathes of the country and the economy has been crippled.
Asean has barred the generals from attending its summits until progress is achieved on a 2021 peace plan devised by the bloc, which the junta agreed to but has failed to follow. That agreement includes dialogue between all sides in the conflict.
An important trade route, the AH-1 stretches more than 1,500km from Myawaddy on the Thai-Myanmar frontier to Tamu on the Myanmar-India border.
The area around Myawaddy, previously a conduit for more than US$1 billion (RM4.24 billion) of annual border trade, saw fierce fighting earlier this year as rebel fighters pushed the junta out of the frontier town.
— Reuters
