Top UN envoy visits Myanmar

Top United Nations special envoy to Myanmar Vijay Nambiar arrived here Monday on a five-day visit to Myanmar, diplomatic sources said. It is the second visit of Nambiar, chief of staff to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, after a new government was set up in Myanmar on March 30. Nambiar will meet with Myanmar Foreign Minister U Wunna Maung Lwin and Home Affairs Minister Lieutenant-General Ko Ko shortly after his arrival Monday, according to schedule. During his visit, Nambiar will also attend the international Green Economy and Green Growth Forum in Nay Pyi Taw where he will meet the central level Peace-Making Group of the government and Speaker of the House of Nationalities U Khin Aung Myint. Calling on the government leadership, he will proceed to Mandalay, Mawlamyine and Yangon where he is expected to meet with noted political figure Aung San Suu Kyi and leaders of some political parties. Nambiar said at the end of his last Myanmar visit in May that he received encouraging signals from the government. Nambiar, an Indian diplomat who was appointed U.N. special envoy to Myanmar in 2010, has been Ban Ki-moon's chief of staff since January 2007.