Myanmar promises border security
India receives assurances on insurgent groups during landmark visit
- Rita Joseph, New Delhi
- India
- May 31, 2012
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he received assurances from President Thein Sein that Myanmar will not allow secessionist groups to base themselves across the border during a visit to the Southeast Asian country this week.
Speaking on his return from a three-day trip to Myanmar that ended on Tuesday, Singh told reporters: "I have President [Thein] Sein’s assurance and hope that the border will remain as peaceful as humanly possible."
The two leaders issued a joint statement announcing their “commitment to fight the scourge of terrorism and insurgent activity in all its forms and manifestations,” said India’s Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai.
Northeast Indian militants have fought national military forces for decades in a bid to gain independence from New Delhi.
Myanmar has at times been accused of failing to expel insurgent fighters operating along its 1,600-kilometer border with India.
During Singh’s visit, the first by an Indian prime minister since 1987, the two countries agreed deals on border area development, new air connections and a US$500-million credit line from India's Export-Import Bank to its neighbor.
India will also fund the construction of a port in Sittwe on the Bay of Bengal in western Myanmar as part of a US$214 million river and road development program designed to open a trade route to northeastern India.
The foreign secretary said work on the port and an inland waterway on the Kaladan River would be completed by June next year, and that a road from Myanmar to Mizoram would open a year later.
During the visit Singh also met Myanmar’s democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, inviting the Nobel Peace Prize winner to deliver the prestigious Nehru memorial lecture in New Delhi later this year.
Suu Kyi studied in India during the 1960s during the time her mother served as Myanmar’s ambassador.
Singh’s visit comes during a period of rapid political and economic reforms in Myanmar following a general election in November 2010 and a by-election in April that saw Suu Kyi elected as a member of parliament.
Analysts say the visit represents an effort by India to counter China which next year plans to open oil and gas pipelines in Sittwe on the Bay of Bengal that will extend up to Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province.
Speaking on his return from a three-day trip to Myanmar that ended on Tuesday, Singh told reporters: "I have President [Thein] Sein’s assurance and hope that the border will remain as peaceful as humanly possible."
The two leaders issued a joint statement announcing their “commitment to fight the scourge of terrorism and insurgent activity in all its forms and manifestations,” said India’s Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai.
Northeast Indian militants have fought national military forces for decades in a bid to gain independence from New Delhi.
Myanmar has at times been accused of failing to expel insurgent fighters operating along its 1,600-kilometer border with India.
During Singh’s visit, the first by an Indian prime minister since 1987, the two countries agreed deals on border area development, new air connections and a US$500-million credit line from India's Export-Import Bank to its neighbor.
India will also fund the construction of a port in Sittwe on the Bay of Bengal in western Myanmar as part of a US$214 million river and road development program designed to open a trade route to northeastern India.
The foreign secretary said work on the port and an inland waterway on the Kaladan River would be completed by June next year, and that a road from Myanmar to Mizoram would open a year later.
During the visit Singh also met Myanmar’s democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, inviting the Nobel Peace Prize winner to deliver the prestigious Nehru memorial lecture in New Delhi later this year.
Suu Kyi studied in India during the 1960s during the time her mother served as Myanmar’s ambassador.
Singh’s visit comes during a period of rapid political and economic reforms in Myanmar following a general election in November 2010 and a by-election in April that saw Suu Kyi elected as a member of parliament.
Analysts say the visit represents an effort by India to counter China which next year plans to open oil and gas pipelines in Sittwe on the Bay of Bengal that will extend up to Kunming, the capital of Yunnan province.
