NAYPYITAW — Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing invited the country's armed resistance groups to fresh peace talks by July 31 as part of a 100-day program announced at a cabinet meeting in Naypyitaw, according to state-run newspapers. The program prioritizes peace, stability and development, and includes social, economic and infrastructure measures.

"Both NCA signatories and non-signatories are invited to participate in the peace process," Min Aung Hlaing said. He also invited the People's Defense Force, which was formed to fight to restore democracy after the army takeover, to join the talks and enter the legal fold within the 100-day period.

Min Aung Hlaing took office as president on April 10, 2026. As military chief, he led the 2021 takeover that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi's civilian government and headed the unelected military government that followed.

The 2021 seizure of power intensified armed resistance in Myanmar, as pro-democracy activists joined with ethnic armed groups that had been battling for decades for greater autonomy. The alliance led to a civil war that still affects most of the country. In-person peace talks the military government held with ethnic minority leaders starting in 2022 did not produce results.

Myanmar has 21 established ethnic armed organizations with a history of armed struggle. Ten signed multilateral Nationwide Ceasefire Agreements in 2015 and 2018 under previous governments, and four of those signatories resumed fighting after the 2021 takeover. For several decades, the country has experienced cycles of ceasefires with intermittent periods of relative peace, none of which led to a comprehensive political settlement granting ethnic groups the autonomy they seek in the frontier regions where they are dominant.

The army regained the upper hand in the nationwide conflict in mid-2025, following a series of China-brokered ceasefires with major rebel groups and after the activation of a conscription law in early 2024 boosted its numbers. It retook territory from ethnic militias, including the Three Brotherhood Alliance, which had launched offensives with pro-democracy resistance forces in northeastern Myanmar near the Chinese border and in the west.

The Ta'ang National Liberation Army, a member of the Three Brotherhood Alliance, congratulated Min Aung Hlaing on his presidency and said it looked forward to peace talks in a statement last Wednesday. The National Unity Government, the main group coordinating opposition to military rule, rejected the overture.

"We all already understood that the military's fake invitations are aimed at prolonging people's subjugation under military rule," said Nay Phone Latt, a spokesperson for the National Unity Government.