Sunday, May 27, 2012
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Sunday said India and
Myanmar would explore new initiatives and define a roadmap for further
boosting of bilateral ties with focus on trade, investment and
connectivity as he begins a three-day visit to that country.
Pointing out that India attaches the highest importance to its
relations with Myanmar, a “close friend and neighbour”, Dr. Singh said
in a statement shortly before his departure for Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar’s
new capital, that “recent years have witnessed significant strengthening
and expansion of our bilateral relations” and his coming visit “will
provide an opportunity to review the progress in implementation of
decisions” taken during the “highly successful visit” of Myanmar
President Thein Sein to India in October last year.
“We will also consider new initiatives and define a roadmap for the
further development of our cooperation in the years ahead,” said Dr.
Singh who will be the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Myanmar in
quarter of a century since Rajiv Gandhi’s trip to that country in
December, 1987.
The Prime Minister, who will hold
talks with Mr. Sein on Monday at Nay Pyi Taw, said that during his visit
to Myanmar he hopes to focus on “stronger trade and investment links,
development of border areas, improving connectivity between our two
countries and building capacity and human resources“.
“We also hope to sign a number of agreements and MoUs to further
strengthen our bilateral cooperation in these areas, besides promoting
people-to-people contacts,” Dr. Singh said.
Dr.
Singh, who will also meet leader of the opposition and Nobel Laureate
Aung San Suu Kyi in Yangon on Tuesday, said India welcomes Myanmar’s
“transition to democratic governance and the steps taken by the
government of Myanmar towards a more broad-based and inclusive
reconciliation process and offered to share “democratic experiences”
with that country.
Since taking office more than a
year ago, President Thein Sein has surprised many critics by releasing
Suu Kyi from 15 years of house arrest and allowing her National League
for Democracy (NLD) to contest and win parliamentary elections in April
this year, freeing other political prisoners, opening talks with ethnic
rebels and easing media censorship and restoring labour unions right to
strike.
Dr. Singh said he was looking forward to
address a cross-section of Myanmar society and interact with the Indian
and Indian-origin community in Yangon on the final day of his visit.
The
Prime Minister said the “shared history and culture” of India and
Myanmar “provides a strong basis for the enhancement of contacts between
the people of our two countries” and India remains “committed to a
close, cooperative and mutually beneficial partnership with the
government and people of Myanmar“.
Dr. Singh said he
is looking forward to visiting the historic Shwedagon Pagoda, a
testament to 2600 years of Buddhist heritage, and the mazar (the grave)
of the last Emperor of India, Bahadur Shah Zafar, in Yangon.
The
Pagoda houses the hairs of Lord Buddha who had given them to two
merchant brothers in return for a honey cake they offered to him.
High
on Dr. Singh’s agenda of talks with Myanmar President Thein Sein, a
former army general heading a quasi-civilian government, will be
deepening ties in energy, security, connectivity, trade and information
technology.
The two countries are expected to sign a number of agreements in energy sector and connectivity during the visit.
The
high-points among the slew of agreements will be the ones relating to
an offshore gas block awarded to private Indian company Jubilant Energy
in global competition and a passenger bus service between Imphal and
Mandalay, Myanmar’s second largest city after Yangon.
India
will be flagging its interests in getting more opportunities in both
offshore and onshore energy sources in Myanmar. GAIL and OVL already
have minority stakes in energy sector from where the gas is being
transported to China.
India expects that the visit of
the Prime Minister, who will be accompanied by his wife Gursharan Kaur
and External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, will take bilateral
relations to a “new level” given the new political environment in
Myanmar which has seen remarkable political reforms that have seen that
country emerging from decades of diplomatic isolation.
As
Myanmar transitions towards democracy after more than five decades of
often repressive military rule, its resource-rich but impoverished
economy is also opening up holding out immense potential in virtually
all areas.
The Prime Minister’s engagements include a
public address on “India and Myanmar: A Partnership for Progress and
Regional Development” where the leading think-tanks of Myanmar and the
business captains of the two countries will be present.
Reflecting
the importance of the economic content of the bilateral relations, a
group of captains Indian business and industries representing energy,
telecom, IT, steel and agriculture sectors will be in Myanmar during
Singh’s visit.
As the gateway to South East Asia,
Myanmar has been of considerable strategic significance to India and
central to its Look East policy, given its energy reserves, and 1640km
border with insurgency-hit four north-eastern states -- Mizoram,
Nagaland, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.
Security
concerns have prompted New Delhi to remain engaged with the military
junta in Myanmar despite criticism from Western countries. During a
visit to New Delhi in 2010, President Barrack Obama had chided India for
not speaking out over human rights abuses in Myanmar.
Source: The Hindu
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