In Myanmar, two ethnic armed groups signed a ceasefire with the government today, as leader Aung San Suu Kyi seeks to revive a stuttering peace process to end decades of conflict. Ending near-perpetual civil war has been Suu Kyi's stated top priority, but the Buddhist-majority country has seen the worst fighting with rebels in years since she took office almost two years ago. <br/><br/>The peace process, which has been eclipsed in media coverage by the plight of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees fleeing to neighbouring Bangladesh from violence in the northwest, is key to unlocking the resource-rich country's potential and guaranteeing development for its more than 50 million people. <br/><br/>New Mon State Party and the Lahu Democratic Union signed the National Ceasefire Agreement after meeting Suu Kyi and the military's commander-in-chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, in the capital Naypyitaw last month. Speaking at a signing ceremony in Naypyitaw, Suu Kyi said, the next step is to cement the ceasefire with groups that have already signed, and bring the remaining armed groups into the agreement through dialogue.<br/><br/>The Nobel Peace Prize winner had been criticized overseas for not standing up for the largely stateless Rohingya in the western state of Rakhine, where an army crackdown forced more than six lakhs to flee to Bangladesh since August 25 last year.

In Myanmar, two ethnic armed groups signed a ceasefire with the government today, as leader Aung San Suu Kyi seeks to revive a stuttering peace process to end decades of conflict. Ending near-perpetual civil war has been Suu Kyi's stated top priority, but the Buddhist-majority country has seen the worst fighting with rebels in years since she took office almost two years ago. <br/><br/>The peace process, which has been eclipsed in media coverage by the plight of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees fleeing to neighbouring Bangladesh from violence in the northwest, is key to unlocking the resource-rich country's potential and guaranteeing development for its more than 50 million people. <br/><br/>New Mon State Party and the Lahu Democratic Union signed the National Ceasefire Agreement after meeting Suu Kyi and the military's commander-in-chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, in the capital Naypyitaw last month. Speaking at a signing ceremony in Naypyitaw, Suu Kyi said, the next step is to cement the ceasefire with groups that have already signed, and bring the remaining armed groups into the agreement through dialogue.<br/><br/>The Nobel Peace Prize winner had been criticized overseas for not standing up for the largely stateless Rohingya in the western state of Rakhine, where an army crackdown forced more than six lakhs to flee to Bangladesh since August 25 last year.