Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi said on Wednesday that the long hoped-for union peace will be achieved with the collective strength of all stakeholders and people.

Suu Kyi, in her capacity as chair of the National Reconciliation and Peace Centre, made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the fourth meeting of the 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference which began in capital Nay Pyi Taw earlier Wednesday.

She urged all stakeholders including the military and all ethnic groups to unite and build a democratic federal union through dialogue.

Suu Kyi said national reconciliation will be concurrently implemented with internal peace process by encouraging non-signatories of Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) to agree on ceasefire and inviting them to political negotiations while political reforms and efforts to create effective ceasefire monitoring will be accelerated through dialogues with the signatories ethnic armed organizations.

Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing said that the military on its part is striving for ending the internal armed conflicts which might lessen unity of the state, national immunity and defence capability.

On behalf of the NCA signatories, General Yawd Serk, chairman of the Restoration Council of Shan state (RCSS), called for participation of all stakeholders in holding political dialogues including the union peace conference.

Sources say the Union Accord Part III will be signed at the fourth meeting of the peace conference which will conclude on Friday and the accord will include three parts relating to framework agreement on the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) implementation, post-election activities and basic federal principles.

The peace conference was held in August 2016, May 2017 and July 2018, respectively.

A total of 51 federal-related basic principles have been adopted into the union accord after the third conference.

Ten ethnic armed organizations have signed the NCA with the government since it was initiated in October 2015.

(With input from Xinhua) 

(Cover: Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi gives a speech during talks between the government, army and representatives of ethnic armed groups over a ceasefire to end insurgencies, in Naypyitaw January 12, 2016. /Reuters)