India emphasizes value
The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi meeting the State Counsellor of Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi, on the sidelines of the 16th India-ASEAN Summit, in Bangkok, Thailand on November 3. (PIB Photo)
New Delhi, November 3 (MExN): India and Myanmar on Sunday reaffirmed that a stable and peaceful border was an important anchor for the continued expansion of the partnership between the two countries.
This was the agreement between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar during a meeting on the margins of the ASEAN-India Summit on November 3 in Bangkok, Thailand, a PMO release via PIB stated.
PM Modi emphasized the value India attaches to Myanmar's cooperation in ensuring that armed groups from the North East do not find space to operate across the India-Myanmar border.
He also underlined the priority India attaches to Myanmar as a partner at the crossroads of India's Look East Policy and the Neighbourhood First policies. Towards this end, he highlighted India's continuing commitment to improve physical connectivity to and through Myanmar to Southeast Asia, including through building road, port and other infrastructure.
India would also continue to strongly support the expansion of capacity for Myanmar's police, military and civil servants, as well as its students and citizens. The leaders agreed that people to people connectivity would help expand the base of the partnership, and therefore welcomed the expansion of air connectivity between the two countries, and the growing interest of India's businesses in Myanmar, including the plans of India to host a business event for the CLMV countries (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) in Yangon at the end of November 2019.
State Counsellor Daw Suu Kyi reaffirmed the importance her Government attached to the partnership with India, and her appreciation of India's consistent and sustained support for the widening of democracy and deepening of development in Myanmar.
PM Modi also pointed out that the speedy, safe and sustainable return from Bangladesh of displaced people to their homes in Rakhine State was in the interests of the region, the displaced persons, and India, Bangladesh and Myanmar.
The two leaders agreed to maintain the tempo of high level interactions in the year ahead, recognizing that strong ties across all pillars of cooperation were in the fundamental interests of both countries.
