Deadly Myanmar earthquake mainstreams junta leader, ends 4-year diplomatic isolation

Myanmar’s deadliest natural disaster in years has strengthened the position of ruling general Min Aung Hlaing, by opening diplomatic channels closed for four years after his junta ousted an elected government to unleash a brutal civil war.

Just before Friday’s quake of magnitude 7.7 that killed almost 2,900 people, the junta chief was readying for a rare foreign visit to a regional summit in Thailand, as aides worked the phones to arrange meetings with other leaders.

It is still unclear if Min Aung Hlaing will attend the BIMSTEC grouping’s summit in Bangkok this week, but the disaster has helped end his isolation by most world leaders over a war that displaced 3.5 million and decimated the economy.
“The junta knows that regional powers jostling for influence in Myanmar, like India, China, and Russia would want to use this opportunity to strengthen their own toehold in the country,” said Angshuman Choudhury, an analyst based in Singapore.

“By publicly and directly engaging with regional capitals, it can demonstrate its supposed indispensability as Myanmar’s primary public authority.”

A junta spokesman did not respond to telephone calls from Reuters to seek comment.
In the past week, Min Aung Hlaing has spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim - conversations that have led to a flurry of international aid.

Just weeks after the junta reaffirmed plans for a general election in December, one of the impoverished nation’s strongest earthquakes in a century has opened a new window for its leader to engage with regional powers.

The junta had steadily lost ground in the conflict sparked by the 2021 coup, suffering a string of battlefield defeats and piling unprecedented pressure on Min Aung Hlaing himself.