NEW YORK: Sectarian violence between Buddhists and minority Muslims has thrown up “an unfortunate and unexpected challenge” in Myanmar’s transition to democracy, the nation’s foreign minister said on Tuesday, but denied the unrest has been fuelled by racism.

Wunna Maung Lwin said in an interview that the former pariah state’s shift from military rule remained on track.

He said next year’s pivotal elections would be free and fair, but he wouldn’t comment on whether opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi would be able to run for president.

The foreign minister also said his government has started a “verification process” in strife-torn Rakhine State to enable stateless Rohingya Muslims who have been in Myanmar for three generations to become naturalised citizens. But he stressed that the government was still not recognising Rohingya as a group. The government describes the estimated 1.3 million Rohingya as “Bengali,” a term which many members of the minority group object to strongly, as it implies they are illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh.

Published in Dawn, October 1st , 2014