Myanmar says relations with Thailand improving after border row ( AFP ) September 3, 2002


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Myanmar says relations with Thailand improving after border row

YANGON, Sept 3 (AFP)

Myanmar's ruling military junta said Tuesday that its relations with historic adversary Thailand were on the mend, after a May border clash sparked a diplomatic row between the neighbours.

"Bilateral relations will improve in the future, it will not do otherwise," deputy military intelligence chief Major General Kyaw Win told reporters here ahead of key talks between the two sides set for Friday.Foreign Minister Win Aung is due to travel to Thailand for the meeting aimed at ending the rancor and divisiveness that have marked bilateral ties over the past four months.

Kyaw Win said that the talks would also address the re-opening of the common border, which has been sealed since Yangon slammed shut border crossings in the wake of the row.The spokesman admitted that bilateral ties have been at a "standstill" lately, but that Yangon was now "quite positive" about the future of relations with Thailand.He also dismissed criticism of the junta by dissident groups and Thai politicians as "insignificant".

Relations between the two countries spiralled on May 20 when border clashes erupted between the Myanmar junta and ethnic Shan rebels, which Yangon accuses Thailand of assisting.The two countries exchanged official protest notes, and Myanmar barred official visits and sealed all the border checkpoints, crippling bilateral trade.But after returning from a fence-mending trip to Yangon last month Surakiart said relations had "normalized".

Lawmakers and human rights groups criticised a crackdown on Myanmar activists in Thailand last month and said it was clearly part of the Thai government's efforts to secure Myanmar's agreement on reopening the border.

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi also protested the action, telling the Chiang Mai-based magazine Irrawaddy that "it is not appropriate to crack down on dissidents and pro-democracy supporters who do not break the laws."

Meanwhile, a foreign ministry source confirmed that a European Union delegation would arrive in Yangon on September 8, describing it as a "routine visit" ahead of the United Nations General Assembly."The team is expected to be here for two days and will meet with top leaders as well as high officials of the foreign ministry,' the source told AFP, but declined to give specifics as their program "has not been finalised".

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