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March 10 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka has invited a representative of Myanmar’s junta to a meeting of Asian foreign ministers but denied on Wednesday that its gesture endorsed the country’s military coup, condemned globally over the army’s violent suppression of protests.
“ProtestSriLanka” began trending among coup opponents on Twitter in Myanmar after it emerged - through a letter leaked online - that Colombo had invited military foreign minister Wunna Maung Lwin to the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) meeting in Colombo at the end of March.
Myanmar’s army seized power in a coup on Feb. 1, detaining civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and most of her cabinet. Nationwide mass protests have been met with deadly force, with at least 60 people killed according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an advocacy group.
Read more about Sri Lanka invites foreign minister of Myanmar junta for BIMSTEC meet on Business Standard. Lanka has invited the new foreign minister of Myanmar s junta to BIMSTEC ministerial meeting next month, triggering a controversy that it is endorsing the military coup in the Southeast Asian nation
Sri Lanka has invited India for the group's foreign ministers virtual meet on April 01. The South Asian country is this year's host of the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation).
BIMSTEC is a regional grouping has 7 members namely Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand all of whom share coastal borders with the Bay of Bengal.