A Burmese government minister has criticized the United States for placing Burma on its list of major drug trafficking and drug producing countries.
The United States last week placed Burma on its list of countries that failed to live up to obligations under international counter-narcotics obligations. Washington also said Burma is the second largest producer of opium in the world and among the largest producers of amphetamine-type drugs.
Burma's Home Minister, Colonel Tin Hlaing, condemned the decision, saying Burma has achieved success in ridding the country of illegal drugs, while the U.S. remained the biggest consumer of illegal drugs.
Tin Hlaing also said U.S. economic sanctions are hurting Burma's efforts to fight the drug war.
The United States imposed economic sanctions against Burma's military government due to its poor human rights record and failure to hand over power to a democratically-elected government.
Information for this report is provided by AP.