Myanmar junta chief meets foreign leaders in Bangkok as earthquake toll tops 3,100

Volunteers of Mik Luang Rim Nam and Fire Ram Thung groups shout slogans during protest against the visit of Myanmar's military leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing for BIMSTEC conference in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, April, 4, 2025. -- AP Photo/Manish Swarup

BANGKOK (Reuters): Myanmar's ostracised junta leader met the prime ministers of India and Thailand during a regional summit in Bangkok on Friday, a week after an earthquake devastated parts of his impoverished, war-torn nation, killing more than 3,100 people.

Shunned by most world leaders since leading a 2021 coup that overthrew an elected government, Min Aung Hlaing's rare foreign trip exploits a window opened by the earthquake to ramp up diplomacy.