Myanmar President U Win Myint on Tuesday stressed the united strength and commitment of all ethnic people in helping preserve and perpetuate independence and sovereignty, and prevent the disintegration of the union.

Speaking on the occasion of the 72nd Anniversary of Union Day, U Win Myint emphasized that the most important requirement for the perpetuation of the union, in which all ethnic people with different languages, literature, culture and customs are living together, is building a democratic federal union.

Noting the 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference is in progress with 51 basic principles for a democratic federal union being signed into two parts of a union accord, he said the country is on the road to peace through negotiations with ethnic armed organizations which have not yet signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Accord (NCA).

He believed that the Panglong Peace Conference is a pragmatic step toward realizing the dream of building a federal democratic union that people from all ethnic groups aspire.

The president expressed the confidence that all regions and states will be developed within a short time when peace prevails across the union.

The president urged his countrymen to cooperate with the government, the parliament and the military in building a federal democratic union and achieving national reconciliation and socio-economic development.

Panglong in Shan state is a place of origin where the historical Panglong Conference was held with the Panglong Agreement signed in 1947.

Myanmar regained independence from British rule on January 4, 1948.

(Top image: Myanmar President U Win Myint officiates a ceremony for new foreign diplomats at the presidential palace in capital Naypyidaw on September 4, 2018. /VCG Photo)