It's Myanmar, not Burma, US diplomat told

May 22, 2011, 5:22 GMT

Yangon - A senior US diplomat who visited Myanmar last week was asked to stop calling the country Burma if Washington wishes to promote bilateral relations with the new government, media reports said Sunday.

The suggestion was made in the course of talks between US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Joseph Yun and Myanmar Foreign Minister Wanna Maung Lwin on Wednesday, according to a transcript of the meeting made available to the Myanmar Times newspaper.

'You might think this is a small matter, but the use of 'Myanmar' is a matter of national integrity,' Lwin told Yun. 'Using the correct name of the country shows equality and mutual respect.'

In 1989, the then-ruling State Peace and Restoration Council, a junta, decided to change the South-East Asian country's official name from Burma to Myanmar.

The junta argued that 'Myanmar' was a closer rendition of the original name of their country, which was christened 'Burma' by the British colonialists.

Those opposed to military rule, including opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, insist on calling their country Burma, as do many western democracies such as the US and Britain in their official pronouncements on the pariah state.

Myanmar, or Burma, held a general election on November 7 that brought the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party to power.

Human rights groups and pro-democracy activists have urged the international community to continue to impose sanctions on the new regime until it demonstrates a serious commitment to political reform.

Lwin told Yun that the US sanctions were the main obstacle to improved relations, the Myanmar Times reported.

Yun, who also met with Suu Kyi, told the Nobel laureate that he 'wanted to see significant development here,' before the US would consider lifting sanctions.

'I don't think there was a change attitude on sanctions,' Suu Kyi after their meeting.

It was Yun's first official visit since the new government was formed on March 30, and followed a visit by United Nations special envoy to Myanmar Vijay Nambiar last week.

Yun last visited Myanmar in December, shortly after Suu Kyi was released from a seven-year house arrest term on November 13. He is the highest-ranking US official to visit since the country's first election in two decades.