Myanmar junta leader urges foreign powers to back its return to democracy

FILE PHOTO: Myanmar's junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who ousted the elected government in a coup on February 1, presides at an army parade on Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, March 27, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo/File Photo

(Reuters) - Myanmar's military ruler on Monday urged his foreign critics to get behind his junta's planned return to democracy, instead of siding with a resistance movement he called "terrorists" bent on destroying the country.

Addressing an annual armed forces day parade, Min Aung Hlaing, whose February 2021 coup plunged Myanmar into chaos, said international condemnation of his military rule was based on false narratives by a shadow National Unity Government (NUG).