The US Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research, Michael Vance, played a leading role in the outreach, which has focused on shutting down scam centers that target Americans but could lead to broader engagement, including on Myanmar’s rare-earth mineral deposits, according to seven current and former officials and others familiar with the policy shift.

Vance joined talks with coup leader-turned-president Min Aung Hlaing in the capital Naypyitaw on September 15-16. The meeting was aimed at securing the release of American businessman Adam Castillo but also provided an opening for further engagement, four of the people said.

Last month’s meeting — the highest‑level contact since the coup — underscores a broader Trump‑administration foreign policy tilt away from democracy promotion toward transactional engagement.

The presence of Vance, who was confirmed as the State Department’s top intelligence official in August, and his ongoing role in US policy toward Myanmar have not been previously reported.

Military leader remains under US sanctions

Min Aung Hlaing, the former military chief, remains under US sanctions for human rights abuses, including the 2016-2017 mass killings and expulsions of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims that Washington declared a genocide. Less than two weeks after Vance’s visit, Myanmar’s military conducted an airstrike on a crowded marketplace in Rakhine state, killing over 50 people and injuring scores more, according to United Nations human rights officials.

The State Department said it engages with all groups in Myanmar on issues affecting US interests and raises the need to cease violence and release political prisoners.

“You don't solve problems by ignoring them. You solve problems by addressing them,” spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement.

A spokesperson for the military-backed government did not respond to a request for comment. Min Aung Hlaing, who has cited electoral fraud to justify the coup and labeled his opponents as terrorists, is seeking international legitimacy for his nominally civilian government.

Current and former officials say Vance has met players from all sides of Myanmar’s complex conflict and helped shape the Trump administration’s policy toward the country.

Intelligence chiefs — such as Vance — do not typically steer policy because of concerns about compromising analytic independence.

“If you let policy dictate to intelligence, you can't be sure you're getting a real honest assessment of the facts,” said Richard Betts, an adjunct senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who has consulted for US intelligence agencies.

Pigott declined to address Vance’s role but said the administration “operates as a team with the president as the lead.”

A detained American, and an opening

Castillo, a former head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Myanmar, was detained at Yangon airport on 11 June by Myanmar authorities on what his supporters have described as trumped-up charges. The US government has not commented on whether Castillo was wrongfully detained.

People familiar with the matter said White House, National Security Council and State Department officials held back-channel negotiations with Myanmar officials to secure his release. One person said Myanmar asked only "to have an official engagement at the right level with the US government" in return.

Castillo declined to comment beyond crediting President Donald Trump for his release.

The meeting builds on a June meeting between US and Myanmar officials in Tokyo also involving Vance, four people said. One of the people said officials from the Treasury Department, which oversees sanctions, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Pentagon took part.

It was unclear who represented Myanmar at the talks.

Vance, who became involved in Myanmar policy while advising Vice President JD Vance on Asian affairs, has also met in person and virtually with the democratic opposition and ethnic armed groups fighting the military, five of the people said.

A major focus of the US push is getting Myanmar's help shuttering scam hubsoperating on its territory that run romance and other frauds, which have scammed Americans out of billions of dollars. Two people familiar with the matter said the FBI has had direct contact with Myanmar’s authorities on cyber scams.

Researchers say many scams are run from areas under militia control, with some proceeds flowing to the military, raising doubts about whether Myanmar’s leaders are serious about enforcement.

US officials also discussed access to Myanmar’s massive deposits of heavy rare earths that are used in electric vehicles and wind turbines. US officials acknowledge obstacles: the deposits mainly lie in territory held by ethnic armies fighting Myanmar’s military government, and China, currently the main importer, could see any US role as a challenge.

Still, with Washington seeking to diversify supply chains away from China, Myanmar's deposits remain a recurring topic in conversations, the people said.

From sanctions to engagement

After the 2021 coup, President Joe Biden's administration froze Myanmar's assets at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and imposed sanctions on senior officers and military‑linked businesses.

In 2022, Congress authorized non-lethal support for the opposition, funding early-warning systems for airstrikes and incentives for officers to defect.

Most of those programs were cut during Trump’s foreign-aid overhaul last year, according to four current and former officials and State Department correspondence with Congress reviewed by Reuters.

The State Department said its engagement with the military government does not diminish its relationships with other groups. The US continues to provide assistance to areas outside military control, it said, without detailing that aid.

Representative Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the shift was “contrary to both our values and our interests.”

“By engaging Min Aung Hlaing while failing to implement congressionally mandated sanctions and deploy appropriated democracy funding, Secretary (Marco) Rubio is ceding U.S. leadership and providing this murderous regime greater international legitimacy,” Meeks said in a statement to Reuters.

Myanmar's government, installed after elections criticized by rights groups as a sham, has hired lobbyists to press its case in Washington.

In April, Roger Stone, a longtime Trump adviser, began consulting for DCI Group on behalf of Myanmar's Ministry of Information, according to Foreign Agents Registration Act filings. Stone was convicted in 2019 of obstructing a congressional investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Trump later pardoned him.

A newsletter distributed by DCI warned in June that Washington risked being shut out of access to critical minerals if it did not engage with Myanmar.

Against this backdrop, India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan have launched a joint initiative to tackle the impacts of extreme heat.

Four new country briefs assessing heatwave conditions, preparedness and gaps in the four countries were released today, Thursday, at the Global Heat Forum, which began in Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, says a press release.

The briefs were published under the initiative of the South Asia Hub of the Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN). The assessments were conducted as part of a review of countries’ preparedness and capacity as health risks from extreme heat continue to rise across South Asia. They examine how the countries are responding to extreme heat, preparing in advance and where significant gaps remain.

The Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) in New Delhi runs the South Asia Hub. Its partners include the Sustainable Futures Collaborative, Natural Resources Defense Council, BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health, and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). The initiative is also aligned with the joint climate and health programme of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Heatwaves in South Asia have become more intense and longer in recent years. Extreme heat causes more than discomfort; it poses serious health risks, particularly for children, older people, pregnant women and outdoor workers. In addition to heat-related illness and deaths, extreme heat can increase the risks of heart disease, respiratory illnesses and other health problems.

The purpose of the new assessments of the four countries is to identify areas where progress has been made in addressing heat-related health risks and where more coordinated action is needed. The findings could be used in policymaking, strengthening health systems, early warning systems and protecting vulnerable populations.

The Global Heat Forum in Bangkok is discussing the growing risk of extreme heat and its health impacts in South Asia and other regions around the world. Experts have warned that climate change could further increase the risk of heatwaves in the future. As a result, there is growing emphasis on treating heat not simply as a weather event but as a major public health risk.

In Bangladesh, the feels-like temperature, which takes both temperature and humidity into account, has risen by about 4.5°C since 1980. People now spend nearly one-third of the year in dangerously humid heat.

Heat has been recognised as a risk in Bangladesh’s National Adaptation Plan. The country’s first urban heatwave action plan has been developed for Narayanganj. National guidelines for dealing with heat-related illness and a public awareness campaign called “Beat the Heat” have also been launched.

Despite these initiatives, however, there is a lack of dedicated heatwave action plans at both national and local levels. It is also important to establish a system for monitoring heat-related illness by linking weather forecasts with hospitals and the health system.

These findings and recommendations are included in the first Bangladesh assessment by the South Asia Hub of the Global Heat Health Information Network (GHHIN). Four separate assessments of heat and health conditions in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan were released today, Thursday, at the Global Heat Forum in Bangkok, Thailand.

First assessments of the four countries

This is the first assessment by the GHHIN South Asia Hub of heat and health risks in the four countries.

At the time of the release, it was announced that El Niño is strengthening in the Pacific, which could increase the risk of another season of extreme heat in South Asia. Against this backdrop, Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan have begun working together to address the impacts of extreme heat.

Plans have advanced, but implementation remains a challenge

The assessment of the four countries says preparations for tackling heat in South Asia have progressed most rapidly in the areas of planning, weather forecasting and early warning. All four countries have developed heatwave action plans and early warning systems in one form or another.

However, measures to translate these plans and warnings into protection on the ground have not advanced at the same pace. Major gaps remain in monitoring heat-related illness, financing local-level initiatives, and integrating heat risks into health, labour and urban planning. While several countries have begun large-scale initiatives, progress is uneven.

Extreme heat was once mainly seen in the plains of South Asia. It is now spreading to the Himalayan countries of Nepal and Bhutan as well.

Health risks in Bangladesh remain under-recognised

Farzana Misha of the BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health said, “Heat is one of the least recognised health risks in this region. It is less visible than floods or cyclones. But its impacts on health, work and food security are no less serious. In Bangladesh, we have already started taking some initiatives. A national guideline for dealing with heat-related illness and the country’s first urban heatwave action plan in Narayanganj have been developed. Similar initiatives are being undertaken in Dhaka, Rajshahi and other urban centres. Now similar action is needed across South Asia. We need to build health systems and provide the necessary financing so that risks can be identified before the heat arrives and action can be taken before people are affected.”

The Bangladesh assessment recommends developing dedicated heatwave action plans at both national and local levels. It also calls for establishing a system to monitor heat and health by linking the country’s weather forecasts with hospitals.

India has made the most progress

Among the four countries, India has made the most progress in shifting from reactive relief measures to anticipatory action to reduce heat risks.
District-level research by CEEW found that 57 per cent of India’s districts are at high or very high risk of extreme heat. Nearly three-quarters of the country’s population live in these districts.

More than 250 heatwave action plans are in place at the city and district levels in India. Heatwaves have also been officially recognised as a natural disaster under the country’s disaster risk management financing framework. A national system for monitoring heat-related illness has been established, and more than 18,000 medical officers have been trained.
However, the assessment recommends taking India’s heat action plans beyond the boundaries of disaster management. It calls for dedicated financing and systems to assess health outcomes to be included in every plan.

Nepal experienced 50 days of temperatures above 40°C

Nepal, a Himalayan country, has traditionally faced floods, droughts and other water- and weather-related disasters. It is now also facing the risk of extreme heat.

According to data from Nepal’s national meteorological department, temperatures in the country’s southern Terai plains exceeded 40°C for 50 days in 2024.

Nepal has already published its first national heatwave action plan and issues risk-based warnings. However, the country’s health system does not yet routinely record data on heat-related illness.

The assessment recommends making it mandatory for hospitals in the Terai region to record admissions related to extreme heat. It also calls for strengthening the process of ensuring that weather warnings reach local communities and that appropriate action is taken accordingly.

Heat is rising even in Bhutan’s cooler valleys

Bhutan’s southern lowlands are becoming warmer. As a result, temperatures are also rising in valleys that were previously cooler. Communities that had never before needed to plan for extreme heat are now at risk.

Bhutan’s national policy assigns responsibility for tackling heat to the Ministry of Health. A 2022 regulation also requires measures to protect workers from heat.

Bhutan has relatively advanced early warning systems for floods and glacial lake outburst disasters. The assessment says these systems could also be expanded to cover heat. It recommends bringing different policies and responsibilities together to develop an integrated national heatwave action plan.

Forecasts must be turned into protection

Biswas Chitale, a fellow at CEEW and chair of the GHHIN South Asia Hub, said extreme heat is now a year-round regional risk in South Asia.

However, the region does not have to start from scratch in tackling the risk. Every country is projected to experience worse heat conditions than five years ago.

According to Chitale, the key task now is to link weather forecasts with health systems, local budgets and labour regulations. A warning must be turned into effective protection for people.

Kyeong Ko, director of the Information and Communication Technology and Disaster Risk Reduction Division at UNESCAP, said heat does not stop at borders. Therefore, responses to it should not be confined within national borders either. Countries can share forecasts, coordinate temperature thresholds for taking action and incorporate heat risks into existing disaster management systems.

Following the Global Heat Forum, the South Asia Hub will develop a regional network and training programme involving various organisations. Situation assessments will also be prepared for the governments of the four countries before and after the heat season. The goal will be to turn scientific information on heat into coordinated action and ensure the protection of the region’s most vulnerable populations.