Thailand pushing for talks to repair key Myanmar highway

BANGKOK — 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, Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa said on Thursday (Sept 19).

Thailand has the support of the Asean regional bloc and India in the push to rebuild parts of the Asian Highway 1 (AH-1) that has been damaged by recent fighting, he told reporters.

Laos, the current chair of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, 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 AH1 stretches more than 1,500 km from Myawaddy on the Thai-Myanmar frontier to Tamu on Myanmar's border with India.

The area around Myawaddy, previously a conduit for more than US$1 billion (S$1.29 billion) of annual border trade, saw fierce fighting earlier this year as rebel fighters pushed the junta out of the frontier town.

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