As soon as National League of Democracy won the elections under the leadership of Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi and came to power they made it very clear that maintaining peace in the country is going to be one of their top priorities. Showing her commitment towards peace, Ms. Suu Kyi kick started a peace conference on August 31, 2016. This conference is an attempt to put an end to relentless fighting between Myanmar’s army and the various armed rebel groups active in the country. This fighting has been going on since the last many decades and has resulted in the loss of many lives. The expectations from this new government are very high and this seems to be a step in the direction of meeting this expectations. Using this conference as the platform, Ms. Suu Kyi appealed to various ethnic minorities of Myanmar to overcome their differences and start living in harmony with each other. Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi launched a major push to end decades of fighting between the military and myriad rebel groups with an appeal on Wednesday to the country’s ethnic minorities to overcome their differences to achieve peace. She stressed upon the fact that if Myanmar is to become the kind of ideal nation which they have been hoping for it to be then peace is a definite necessity to achieve that aim. Representatives of most of the ethnic groups were present during the conference. The only ethnic minority absent was the Rohingya Muslims whom the Government of Myanmar refuses to recognize.

The 21st Century Panglong Conference of Myanmar concluded in Nay Pyi Taw on September 3, 2016. The event was a success as all participants agreed to find lasting solutions through discussions and proper coordination among themselves. Significant progress has been made in the direction of achieving peace under the guideline of Nationwide Cease fire Accord (NCA). The four-day conference ended with an appeal to all sides to reconcile their differences and immediately start coordinating with each other to bring about peace in Myanmar. One of the main challenges being faced during the conference was to convince the non-signatories to sign the NCA. It is really important to get all ethnic minorities together because unless all of them agree to participate in the political dialogue peace will not be possible. Myanmar State Counselor Ms.Aung San Suu Kyi, who is the chairperson of Union Peace Dialogue Joint Committee (UPDJC) and on the last day of the vent she thanked all stakeholders for successful holding of the event. She stressed the importance of public support in the peace process and concluded by saying that just discussions in a conference are not enough and efforts should be continued for complete reunification of the country. She further stated that all participants make the 21st Century Panglong Conference a historical and honourable one since it was first held in 1947.