India should negotiate with Myanmar military, ethnic groups to restore peace: Mizoram CM

Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga said India should negotiate with military authorities in trouble-torn Myanmar and various ethnic groups there to restore peace in the neighbouring country.

India and Myanmar have an international border that spans more than 1,600 kilometers. 

"We have heard pleas from some Myanmarese quarters that India should mediate peace in the nation where the military has seized power. This is a golden opportunity for our country to resume talks to restore peace there," said Zoramthanga.

The chief minister claimed that a few years ago, he and national security adviser Ajit Doval were sent to Myanmar on a peace mission.

However, he said that when the Aung San Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy took office in 2015, the peace talks with the Myanmar military administration and ethnic groups were abandoned.

While in the nation's capital from September 3 to 24, Zoramthanga met with President Droupadi Murmu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah to discuss the political turmoil in Myanmar and the influx of refugees from the neighbouring country, among other topics.

"During our visit to Delhi, our main subject was the Myanmar political issue. All the central leaders whom I met, including the president, were concerned about the crisis in the neighbouring nation. "I told them that India should take a fatherly step and resume the trade we had started in the past to restore peace in Myanmar. The Centre should negotiate with the military government and various ethnic groups there," Zoramthanga told on September 25.