The Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO) has proposed to the Burmese government that peace talks be resumed, and has offered to host the next round of negotiations in Myitkyina on 10 May.

The offer comes as fighting between the two sides has increased dramatically in recent weeks.

In a letter to Union Peace-making Work Committee (UPWC) deputy-chairman Aung Min on Tuesday, the KIO’s Sumlut Gam referred to the previous bilateral meeting on 8- 10 October 2013, and said that “exchanging opinions and negotiating on the situation that took place after the [October] meeting will make the peace process more convenient.”

The KIO negotiation team leader also wrote that he wanted to invite the UN secretary-general’s special advisor on Burma, Vijay Nambiar, and China’s Wang Yingan, as well as other ethnic leaders to act as observers at the meeting.

The KIO’s Maj-Gen. Gun Maw passed a copy of the letter to DVB on the sidelines of a meeting of the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT) ethnic alliance in Chiang Mai, Thailand, on Tuesday.

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“Clashes have been intensifying in Kachin and northern Shan states,” said Gun Maw. “This may create more tensions in nationwide ceasefire talks and lead us to reconsider our involvement in the negotiations. Therefore, we would like to facilitate meetings aimed at maintaining the pace of the ceasefire talks, and we are extending an invitation to the government.”