A US Defense Department spokesman says that Myanmar, which is widely censured for conducting ethnic cleansing against its Rohingya Muslim minority, has been invited to observe major US-Thai war games, dubbed Cobra Gold, along with other Asian militaries.
Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Logan stated that Thailand had invited Myanmar to take part in the annual military exercise, which involves thousands of US and Thai military personnel and participants from other Asian countries, Reuters reported Sunday.
According to Logan, Myanmar was invited to observe the humanitarian assistance and disaster relief portion of the war games.
Asked why Thailand decided to invite Myanmar despite concerns over the crackdown against the Rohingya and whether this issue was part of their deliberations, a senior officer at the Directorate of Joint Intelligence of the Royal Thai Armed Forces was cited in the report as saying, “That never came up in the discussions….