New Delhi, Mar 25 (UNI) External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held talks with UN Special Envoy of the Secretary General on Myanmar Julie Bishop and discussed the stability along the Indo-Myanmar border, the refugee situation among other issues here today.
In a post on X, the EAM said the two sides also discussed the issue of India providing economic support to Myanmar.
“Glad to meet UN Special Envoy of the SG on Myanmar Julie Bishop this evening in Delhi.
“Discussed our border stability, refugee situation, trans-national crime out of Myanmar and providing economic support. Exchanged views on the political situation.”
The India visit of the UN special envoy Julie Bishop comes amid growing calls by civil society groups for an investigation into the apparent conflict of interest involving Bishop, after it emerged that she was advising a controversial China-linked rare-earths mining company working in Myanmar.
In an open letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the UN General Assembly, 260 Myanmar and international civil society organisations joined activist group Justice For Myanmar (JFM) in criticising Bishop’s various business engagements, including her involvement with Energy Transition Minerals (ETM), an Australian-listed mining company.
One key ETM partner is Shenghe Resources, a Chinese rare earths conglomerate that holds a nine percent stake in ETM and has a seat on its board. Shenghe Resources has played a significant role in rare earth mining in Myanmar, a sector tied to environmental degradation and alleged funding of Myanmar’s military, Myanmar Now reported.
UN Special Envoy Bishop has denied accusations made about a conflict of interest in her role after becoming a strategic advisor to Energy Transition Minerals (ETM) in January through her consulting firm.
Bishop was appointed special UN envoy to Myanmar last April, more than a year after her predecessor, Singaporean diplomat Noeleen Heyzer, faced a major backlash for taking what was seen as a conciliatory approach to the junta following a meeting with the regime’s leader, Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing, in August 2022.
UNI RN