Australia to ease restrictions on military sanctions with Burma

The Australian prime minister Julia Gillard announced that Australia will ease restrictions on military engagement with Burma following democratic reforms since the country’s ruling generals relinquished their half-century grip on power in 2011.The Australian prime minister said restrictions would be lifted on military humanitarian aid and peacekeeping but an arms sales embargo would stay in place.Gillard met in Canberra with Burma’s President Thein Sein on Monday. Thein Sein is the first leader of Burma to visit the Australian capital since 1974.“What we’ve done today is taken a first step on defence relations between our two countries. It is not fully normalising defence relationships,” Gillard said.Gillard said Australia, a rotating UN security council member and close US ally, would soon post a defence attache to its embassy in Myanmar and would provide additional aid worth A$20m to train the government in human rights.