Myanmar Junta Leader Joins Summit Amid Quake, Airstrike Fury

[geovalin]

 

Myanmar’s junta chief, Min Aung Hlaing, has travelled to Thailand for a regional summit, even as his country reels from a devastating earthquake and fresh military airstrikes that have drawn sharp international condemnation.

 

The trip marks his second major foreign visit since seizing power in the 2021 coup. He is attending a two-day meeting of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), hosted in Bangkok and involving seven South Asian and Southeast Asian nations.

 

According to junta media, Min Aung Hlaing will discuss disaster relief and potential international cooperation, following Myanmar’s most powerful quake in over a century. The death toll from the quake, which struck last Friday, has climbed past 3,000, with thousands more injured and hundreds still unaccounted for.

 

Yet, even as rescue efforts continue, the junta has carried out more than 20 air and artillery strikes in resistance-held regions, including Sagaing, Kachin, and Rakhine, since the earthquake hit. Reports indicate at least five of those strikes occurred on Tuesday, despite ceasefire calls from various ethnic armed groups.

 

Just hours before Min Aung Hlaing’s departure, the regime announced its own ceasefire, claiming it would last until April 22. But within hours, airstrikes resumed in Kachin State, raising doubts over the junta’s commitment to its pledge.

 

The summit has sparked strong criticism from rights groups across the region. ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights and other organisations condemned the junta’s participation, citing ongoing atrocities, war crimes, and systematic attacks on civilians. Min Aung Hlaing remains barred from ASEAN-level meetings for his failure to uphold the bloc’s peace plan.

 

His visit also renews speculation over possible meetings with Thailand’s influential former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, who has longstanding ties to Myanmar’s military leadership. Though Thaksin previously attempted informal peace talks with opposition groups, they failed to yield progress.

 

Despite international outrage and domestic crisis, Min Aung Hlaing’s Bangkok trip suggests the junta is keen to project a sense of legitimacy abroad—even as its actions at home continue to draw condemnation.

 

-2025-04-04