UPC-21st Century Panglong panel member Lt-Gen Tin Maung Win delivers speech at closing ceremony

The following is an unofficial translation of Lt-Gen Tin Maung Win’s speech delivered at the closing ceremony of the Third Session of the UPC – 21st Century Panglong yesterday.

The successful Third Session of the Union Peace Conference – 21st Century Panglong is a monumental step towards establishing a federal and democratic nation and passing on an era of peace to the next generation.

In the Second Session of the Union Peace Conference, we reached an agreement on 37 points in the political, economic, social, land and environment sectors. They were signed as the first part of the Union Accord.

Now, in our Third Session of the Union Peace Conference, we have agreed on four points in the political sector, one point in the economic sector, seven points in the social sector and two points in the land and environment sector to reach a total of 14 points signed as the second part of the Union Accord.

If we examine closely the main causes for ongoing armed conflicts in our country, they can be traced back to the differences in political, ethnical and religious beliefs caused by the British Colonialists’ separatist administration.

The Tatmadaw has been involved in the country’s struggle for peace, independence, sovereignty, ethnic solidarity and preservation of the nation through successive generations and government administrations.

It will continue to be involved in future Union peace conferences to set the basic principles for democracy and federalism in the nation.

The strength of a nation comes from within. If we truly love our country and our people, then I implore you to swiftly eradicate the armed conflicts that are hindering the development of the nation. I also respectfully urge the non-signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) to sign the agreement as soon as possible.

The Third Session of the UPC-21st Century Panglong has yielded good results from all of our hard work and our actions should be based on this for the future of the country and for the future generations, as we aim to successfully accomplish all operations related to the peace process in the 2020 Union Peace Conference.

Myanmar News Agency

Ref; The Global New Light of Myanmar