New Delhi: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh left for Myanmar on Sunday in a historic visit by an Indian prime minister that comes after a gap of 25 years. The PM said before his departure that India and Myanmar would explore new initiatives and define a roadmap for further boosting of bilateral ties with focus on trade, investment and connectivity during his three-day visit.
Pointing out that India attaches the highest importance to its relations with Myanmar, a "close friend and neighbour", Singh said 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 2011.
"We will also consider new initiatives and define a roadmap for the further development of our cooperation in the years ahead," said Singh who will be the first Indian Prime Minister to visit Myanmar in quarter of a century since Rajiv Gandhi's visit in December, 1987.
The Prime Minister, who will hold talks with 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," Singh said.
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.
Meanwhile, CNN-IBN has accessed secret military junta documents that reveal Myanmar's keenness to develop relations with India, apparently to counterbalance China. The documents also say that "friendly" Indian diplomats must be cultivated and that the Indian diplomats' advice and help on influential US Congressmen must be sought.
The documents clearly indicate Myanmar's desire to lessen its political and economic dependence on China. So the PM's visit could see a major push forward on building cooperation on a broad range of issues.
Foreign Secretary Ranjan Mathai said that trade was on the agenda.
Accompanying the Prime Minister is a business delegation led by Bharti Enterprises CEO Sunil Bharti Mittal.
The highlights of the visit
In business, telecom will be the big push. The Number of flights between two countries are also likely to be increased. There are talks of an Imphal-Mandalay bus service.
However, India will have its work cut out. The Chinese pledge of economic assistance to Myanmar is at around $20 billion. India's more modest committments to Myanmar is still nearing completion. And with international sanctions being lifted, India can expect major competition from international firms that are keen to exploit Myanmar's vast reserves of energy, timber and minerals.
(With additional information from PTI)
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