Myanmar leader Min Aung Hlaing starts Vietnam visit

Myanmar leader Min Aung Hlaing arrived in Hanoi on Friday for a three-day Vietnam visit aimed at strengthening political and business ties, according to Myanmar's presidency.

Images released by Myanmar's government showed Min Aung Hlaing and his wife, Kyu Kyu Hla, receiving a red-carpet welcome. The presidency said he is due to meet Vietnamese President To Lam, attend a business forum and visit digital and electronic technology industries.

The trip is part of a regional diplomatic tour after highly restricted elections completed in early 2026 led to Min Aung Hlaing being installed as civilian president. Many monitors dismissed the vote as a charade, saying it excluded Aung San Suu Kyi's party and voters in large rebel-held areas and punished dissent with prison time.

Myanmar's junta leaders were shunned in many quarters after the 2021 coup, but Vietnam maintained investments. Mytel, a major Myanmar telecoms operator, is jointly owned by a company backed by Vietnam's defence ministry and a Myanmar military conglomerate.

Justice for Myanmar accused Vietnam of corporate complicity with the junta and said revenue, technology and surveillance support from Vietnam through Mytel support the Myanmar military's alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Rights groups consider Min Aung Hlaing an architect of the 2017 crackdown on the Rohingya minority, which the International Court of Justice is considering as potential genocide. China, Thailand, India and Laos have already welcomed him on visits since he became civilian leader.