Invitation to foreign minister of Myanmar junta for BIMSTEC: Sri Lanka says it invited all member states

Responding to criticisms on social media platforms with regard to an invitation extended to the Foreign Minister of Myanmar to attend the 17th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting on April 1 in Colombo, the government said it invited all the member states as the Chair of the regional alliance, Foreign Ministry said.

“Sri  Lanka  as the Chair of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and the host of the Ministerial Meeting has  invited  all Member States (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal and  Thailand) to participate in the discussions  in order to finalise  documents  of the 5th BIMSTEC Summit  expected  to be  held  later  this  year in Sri Lanka,” the Ministry said in the statement.

There has been no formal international recognition of the regime which toppled Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1 although Wunna Maung Lwin, the junta's newly appointed foreign minister, has met virtually and physically with some regional counterparts.

Myanmar's junta and the envoy sent by its toppled civilian government have also launched contradictory claims over who represents the country at the United Nations.

Sri Lanka's invitation, seen by AFP, is for an April 1 virtual meeting of the foreign ministers of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand under the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC).

“The 17th ministerial meeting will greatly benefit from your Excellency's valued participation, and I look forward to our close engagement over the course of the meeting,” Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena says in the letter.

Several Myanmar activists bombarded the Sri Lankan foreign ministry's social media platforms to slam the decision.

“Shame on you!!!,” said Twitter user SweZtun. “You invited a member of the Burmese Military Terrorist group to your BIMSTEC meeting...You are shamelessly legitimising Terrorist group...” “Sri Lanka supporting to terrorist group is the worst shameless behaviour after China,” said another Twitter user identifying as Hein Min Htay.