President of Myanmar General Thein Sein, has cancelled visit Bangladesh

The President of Myanmar, General Thein Sein, has cancelled his scheduled July 15 visit to Bangladesh due to a state of emergency in his country, an official in Dhaka said. "We have been informed of the postponement of the Myanmar President's scheduled visit to Bangladesh," Golam Sarwar, head of Southeast Asia desk at the foreign ministry, told bdnews24.com on Sunday. Another ministry official, seeking anonymity, told
the emergency rule had been imposed

in the reclusive country in the wake of recent ethnic violence and floods.

The official hinted President Thein visit might take place sometime after the Ramadan that starts in the third week of this month.

Over 50 people were killed when a riot between Buddhist Rakhains and Muslim Rohingyas took place at Myanmar's Rakhain state on Jun 8. Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel prevented Rohingyas fleeing the riot from entering Bangladesh.

Bangladesh, already burdened with around 500,000 Rohingya refugees, refused to accept new refugees despite calls by the United Nations and other human rights organisations.

The officials at the ministry said the two countries are likely to discuss execution of deals, trade, Rohingya issue, air transport and other issues during the visit of the Myanmar president.

A Foreign Secretary-level meeting between the two countries started on Sunday morning. Foreign Secretary Mohamed Mijarul Quayes led a nine-strong Bangladesh delegation while Myanmar's Deputy Foreign Minister U Mong Mint led the Myannmar delegation.

A joint press conference is scheduled in the afternoon.