Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday reached Nay Pyi Taw for his first bilateral visit to Myanmar after concluding the annual BRICS summit in China. On a two-day visit, Prime Minister Modi will be in the Southeast Asia nation aiming to chart out a roadmap for closer cooperation between the two countries in areas like security and counter-terrorism.
Modi is scheduled to call on Myanmar President Htin Kyaw, who will host a banquet for him later in the day. On Wednesday, the Prime Minister will hold wide-ranging talks with State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. Earlier, Modi had said India and Myanmar will look at strengthening existing cooperation in areas of security and counter-terrorism, trade and investment, infrastructure and energy, and culture.
Being one of India’s strategic neighbours, Myanmar shares a 1,640-km-long border with a number of northeastern states, including militancy-hit Nagaland and Manipur. Modi had visited Myanmar in 2014 to attend the ASEAN-India Summit, while the Myanmarese president and Suu Kyi had visited India last year.
“I am confident that the visit will open a bright new chapter in India-Myanmar relations and will help in charting a road map for closer cooperation between our Governments, our business communities and at the people to people level,” Prime Minister Modi said on his Facebook page.
Modi had also said he was looking forward to paying a visit to the famed heritage city of Bagan, where the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has done a “stellar work” in renovating the Ananda Temple. The ASI will be undertaking further restoration work on a number of pagodas and murals that were ruined in last year’s earthquake.
His visit will culminate in the city of Yangon. He will also interact with the Indian community in Myanmar.
