Dhaka: Amid Bangladesh's continued engagement, Myanmar's Union Minister for Foreign Affairs Than Swe and Chairman of the United League of Arakan Twan Mrat Naing have congratulated recently appointed Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dr Khalilur Rahman, which is seen positively by Dhaka. The head of the Arakan Army has sent a congratulatory letter to the Bangladesh Foreign Minister for the first time.
According to United News of Bangladesh, a senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs highlighted that the messages from Myanmar and Arakan Army authorities are an extraordinary event, coming in the wake of continued engagement. The official noted that these gestures reflect confidence in the new Bangladesh government to promote a peaceful resolution of the Rohingya issue through continued contacts and dialogue.
The Myanmar Foreign Minister expressed a firm commitment to enhancing bilateral relations and strengthening cooperation between Dhaka and Naypyidaw. The two separate messages are viewed as indications of readiness by both the Myanmar government and the Arakan Army and ULA (AA) to work with the newly-formed Bangladesh government to find a resolution to the Rohingya crisis.
"In your new capacity as the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, I hope you will continue to work with us to find practical, sustainable, and realistic solutions. Building on our existing goodwill, we now have an opportunity to chart a new course of friendship between Bangladesh and Arakan," the ULA Chairman Naing stated in his letter to FM Rahman, as quoted by the source.
The Bangladesh government has been in contact with both the Myanmar government and the Arakan Army to find a solution to the Rohingya crisis. Referring to engaging with the Arakan Army, the then National Security Adviser and High Representative Dr Rahman on May 6 last year said Bangladesh, as a sovereign state, would maintain communication with whomever it wants, taking its own interest into consideration.
"We will speak to whoever we want for our own interests. It doesn't matter who said what," he asserted in response to a question about the Myanmar military government's opinion on Bangladesh's contact with the Arakan Army. Rahman emphasized the importance of managing, protecting, and keeping the border with the Arakan Army peaceful.
In August 2017, over 750,000 Rohingya fled to Bangladesh following violent military crackdowns in Myanmar's Rakhine State, joining previous influxes of Rohingya who fled the country in the 1970s and 90s. Today, more than 1.3 million Rohingyas live in Bangladesh, most of them in Cox's Bazar district, near the border with Myanmar. The strain on the local host community and its already stretched facilities and services has been immense.