Myanmar's junta and a key opposition group have indicated they will extend a ceasefire to support more aid efforts after a devastating earthquake, Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Friday, following rare high-level talks. Myanmar has been in the throes of an expanding conflict since its military ousted an elected government in 2021 and formed the State Administration Council (SAC) to run the country. In late March, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit the country, killing over 3,600 people and creating a humanitarian crisis. Anwar, who is also the chair of the ASEAN regional bloc, has held talks since Thursday with Myanmar's junta chief Min Aung Hlaing and with the shadow National Unity Government (NUG) that is battling the military, seeking to curb the ongoing conflict to push aid into the country. "There will be a ceasefire and no unnecessary provocations, because otherwise the whole humanitarian exercise would fail," Anwar told reporters in Bangkok.

Myanmar's junta administration and the government-in-exile have indicated they will likely extend a ceasefire to aid relief efforts in the wake of last month's powerful earthquake, said the premier of neighboring Malaysia on Friday. At a press briefing in Bangkok, Thailand after a two-day visit, Anwar Ibrahim said he urged both sides to extend the ceasefire for humanitarian efforts and they in turn indicated they are committed to extending it, reported Thai PBS. Myanmar's ruling military leaders declared a three-week ceasefire with rebel groups on April 2 following the March 28 earthquake, which killed more than 3,700 people and injured thousands.

Malaysia, as Asean chair, will seek an extension of the ceasefire announced by Myanmar’s military junta to allow humanitarian efforts in the earthquake-ravaged nation, says Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Datuk Seri Anwar said he would make this appeal when he meets the junta’s leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, in Bangkok on April 17. “The temporary ceasefire will end on April 22 and I will ask for it to be extended,” he said at the Finance Ministry’s monthly morning assembly on April 14.