PANGLONG, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar government held a state ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary of the country's Union Day in Panglong, Shan state Sunday.
The day on which Panglong conference was held with Panglong Agreement signed was designated as Myanmar's Union Day. About 1,700 representatives from government, ethnic groups and others attended the ceremony.
National hero General Aung San initiated the Panglong Agreement with other 22 representatives of ethnic nationalities on Feb. 12, 1947, proclaiming to strive for independence of the country with unity.
Speaking at the ceremony, State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi, daughter of General Aung San, called for inclusiveness of the non-signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) which was initiated between former government and eight armed groups in 2015, to join the NCA and upcoming Panglong conference with absolute belief.
Suu Kyi also urged all stakeholders in the peace process to make sacrifice bravely for the interest of the people.
The Union Day ceremony was attached with a Panglong peace talks program participated by Suu Kyi and 12 ethnics people.
Myanmar President U Htin Kyaw stressed the cooperation and coordination among the government, parliament, military, ethnic groups, political parties, civil society organizations and every citizen in order to implement the national reconciliation and peace process in his message on the Union Day anniversary, official media also reported Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Yangon regional government also held a Union Day commemorative ceremony for the first time at downtown Yangon's Maha Bandoola Park on the day, while the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) also launched a grand ceremony to mark the event at its party headquarters in Yangon.
