Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on Monday called for joint efforts to overcome difficulties and challenges in implementing the nationwide ceasefire accord (NCA) between the government and the NCA-signatory ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) through discussion and negotiation.

Suu Kyi, also chairperson of the National Reconciliation and Peace Centre, made the call at the opening ceremony of the trilateral peace talks between the Myanmar government, the Army and the 10 NCA-signatory EAOs which kicked off here to continue resolving matters in existence through negotiation. She described the meeting as witnessing a no-return but marching forward in the national reconciliation and peace efforts, registering an important milestone in the path of peace, Xinhua news agency reported.

Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Services Senior General Min Aung Hlaing and Chairman of the Kayin National Union Saw Mutu Sae Poe also delivered speeches.

The four-day talks, marking the third anniversary of the signing of NCA, were aimed at overcoming the bottlenecks occurring at various levels of political discussions.

The event also came three months after the third session of Myanmar’s 21st Century Panglong Peace Conference in July.