Preliminary talks for a ceasefire between the Chin National Front (CNF) and the Burmese military junta are likely to kick start in March, according to sources close to CNF.

An officer of the rank of a military commander would be involved in the first round of meetings with delegates from the CNF in Harkhar or Kalaymyo in Chin State .

The CNF has been active in the trijunction of the Burma India and Bangladesh border and is fighting for self-determination. It offered to hold talks, to be mediated by Reverend Chawn Kio, the former general secretary of the Harkhar-based Zomi Baptist Convention. However, it is not clear yet whether the military junta will accept the offer to hold talks in March despite the CNF gearing up for it.

Burma watchers speculate that unofficial talks are possible soon.

Win Min, a Thailand-based military analyst said, “The talks are possible. The SPDC (State Peace and Development Council) wants to show the international community that they are doing everything to negotiate with the armed ethnic groups.”

The outcome of the March talks would pave the way for the CNF towards a cease-fire with the junta.

The CNF was formed by students of the Chin ethnic nationalities after the military brutally cracked down on pro-democracy demonstrators nationwide in 1988.