On Monday morning, the Myanmar military called the Bangladesh Ambassador in Yangon for talks where the junta blamed the Arakan Army (AA) as well as Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) for the situation going on in the Ghumdhum border of Bandarban’s Naikkongchari Upazila and surrounding areas. In addition, the junta has said that these two parties have created an ongoing situation in the border area in order to destroy the existing ‘internal relations’ with Bangladesh.
When asked, the Ambassador of Bangladesh to Myanmar, Manjurul Karim Khan Chowdhury, told Prothom Alo that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar had invited him to this meeting to express his position on the border situation.
During talks, Director General of Strategic Studies and Training Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar, Zaw Phyu Win, said that the AA, along with ARSA, attacked the Border Guard Police (BGP) No. 31 border post of Tangpyu (left) with mortar fire on September 16. During that attack, three mortar shells fell on the territory of Bangladesh. Apart from this, the AA and ARSA launched separate mortar attacks on BGP’s border outpost No. 34 at Tongpyu (right) on September 16 and 17. At this time, nine mortar shells fell inside Bangladesh.
In the meeting, Zaw Phyu Win also said that “Myanmar always adheres to bilateral agreements and international laws with great caution when taking necessary security measures near the border. In addition to this, respect for the integrity and sovereignty of all countries including Bangladesh.” Assuring that the Myanmar side would cooperate with the Bangladesh side to maintain peace in the border areas, he emphasized “full and mutual cooperation from the Bangladesh side.”
Myanmar informed the ambassador of Bangladesh through diplomatic channels on September 7 that there are trenches and bases of AA and ARSA inside Bangladesh. In Monday’s meeting Jay Phyu Win raised that issue again. He called for swift action to investigate the bases and dismantle them.
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