Myanmar's de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, called on Sunday for her people to remain united, saying the Southeast Asian country faces "challenges" at home and abroad, as she marked two years since her party swept to power in a historic vote.

In a televised speech, Suu Kyi made only a passing reference to the crisis in Rakhine state, where her government faces mounting international condemnation for a military operation against Rohingya Muslims that has sent nearly 700,000 members of the minority community fleeing to Bangladesh.

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has also struggled to match the sky-high expectations that swept her National League for Democracy (NLD) to power in 2016, and is struggling to rebut criticism over slower economic growth and continued fighting with ethnic armed groups.