Myanmar plays host to visit by Belarusian leader

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko arrived in Myanmar on a goodwill visit, State media there reported on Friday, becoming only the second foreign leader to visit the Southeast Asian country since it came under military rule in 2021. The visit comes just a month before an election in Myanmar that has been characterised as neither free nor fair by critics. Lukashenko’s goodwill visit is seen by critics as giving the appearance of support to the polls. Since the takeover, Belarus has been a major supporter and supplier of Myanmar’s military Government, along with China and Russia. 

It is one of only a few countries that have been visited by Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, the head of Myanmar’s military Government, who travelled there in March and June. Like Myanmar, the Government of Belarus is widely seen as authoritarian. Myanmar’s military Government has been shunned and sanctioned by many Western nations for ousting the elected Government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021, and for committing major human rights violations in trying to crush the resistance to army rule that arose after the takeover.