SM Najmus Sakib
28 October 2022•Update: 28 October 2022
DHAKA, Bangladesh
The Myanmar army has pledged to maintain peace and security at the border with Bangladesh in the face of an upsurge in incidents of shells landing in the neighboring nation while fighting armed rebel groups.
The assurance was given by a Myanmar army delegation at a meeting with Bangladesh Army Chief Gen SM Shafiuddin Ahmed at the Army Headquarters in Dhaka, according to a statement issued late Thursday night by the armed forces media wing Inter-Services Public Relations.
Bangladesh's top army officer cautioned the delegation to be more careful when conducting military operations or campaigns along the border, reads the statement.
The visiting delegation, led by Lt-Gen Phone Myat of the Myanmar Command Bureau of Special Operations, also discussed regional peace and security during the meeting on Wednesday, the statement said.
The team also underlined Myanmar's interest in resolving bilateral issues with Bangladesh through friendship and increased communication.
The development came as a result of Bangladesh's recent move to seek Chinese help in conveying its message of peace on the border with Myanmar. The Chinese ambassador in Myanmar recently relayed the message to the authorities concerned.
Bangladesh reported the most recent border violation on October 23 following a new round of heavy shelling from Myanmar along Bangladesh's steep Bandarban border district.
Myanmar claimed that the situation arose due to months of fighting between the Myanmar army and the insurgent group Arakan Army.
According to official records and media reports, mortars fired from across the border by Myanmar's forces have killed at least two Rohingya and injured nearly a dozen others, including some Bangladeshi nationals, in the last two months.
However, Bangladesh had repeatedly summoned Myanmar's envoy in Dhaka, urging that border violations be stopped and border peace be maintained.
Meanwhile, the two sides discussed ways to ensure the rapid repatriation of the displaced Rohingya people who are currently being provided shelter on the southeast coast of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh currently hosts over 1.2 million persecuted Rohingya on a large hilly forest site in Cox’s Bazar, after the refugees fled a brutal military crackdown in Myanmar in August 2017.
The Bangladesh army chief noted that displaced Myanmar citizens are a regional problem and emphasized the need for the Rohingya to return quickly in order to remove the security risks associated with accommodating them for an extended period of time.
