India, Myanmar sign four pacts, agree to cooperate on insurgency

New Delhi: Security and connectivity issues dominated talks between Indian and Burmese leaders in New Delhi on Monday, with the countries signing two pacts to speed up construction of the Asian Trilateral Highway and agreeing to cooperate in efforts to fight insurgency.

The deals to expedite the construction of the trilateral highway, which aims to connect India with South-East Asia, along with another two agreements were signed after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Htin Kyaw of Myanmar.

India also offered full support and backing to the new government in Myanmar, installed in March this year, for its efforts to improve infrastructure.

Htin Kyaw is on a three-day visit to India, his first bilateral state visit after taking over as president in March at the head of the National League for Democracy (NLD) government, seen as Myanmar’s first democratically elected government in five decades.

The visit follows Myanmar state councillor and foreign minister Aung San Suu Kyi’s visit to China earlier this month, during which China promised support for peace talks between Myanmar and rebels operating in the north of the country, bordering China.

Htin Kyaw’s trip to India also comes within a week of Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Naypyidaw for talks with her counterpart Suu Kyi—leading analysts to suggest that the new Burmese government is trying to balance its ties with its two large neighbours.

“My current visit to India is aimed at enhancing the traditional ties of friendship between the two governments,” Htin Kyaw said after talks with Modi.

“We thank the people of India for supporting our ongoing reform process and efforts to achieve peace and national reconciliation,” he said.

In his remarks, Modi said Myanmar was a “special” neighbour for India for many reasons, including the linkages of religion and culture, besides being a “land bridge that connects India with South-East Asia”.

One connectivity pact signed on Monday provides for the construction of 69 bridges, including approach roads along the Tamu-Kyigone-Kalewa section of the trilateral highway in Myanmar. The second connectivity pact involves the construction and upgradation of the Kalewa-Yagyi road section, also part of the trilateral highway.

The highway, which will connect India to Thailand through Myanmar, is now expected to be complete by 2020, as against the earlier planned 2017.

On Monday, Modi offered support to Myanmar’s new government for developing its priority areas, including agriculture, industry and infrastructure, besides strengthening education and skilling the youth as well as building new institutions.

On security and curbing insurgency, Modi said both countries recognized that their security concerns were closely intertwined.

“We agreed on the need to remain sensitive to each other’s strategic interests and concerns. To this end, the president and I agreed to work together for the safety and security of our people. And actively cooperate to combat the common challenges of terrorism and insurgent activity in our region,” Modi said.

India fully supports efforts by Myanmar to end long years of unrest in its north under the Panglong Conference initiative, Modi said. The reference was to negotiations with the people of the Kachin, Chin and Shan states that Suu Kyi was to hold this week.

India has been concerned about militant groups from its north-east taking shelter in Myanmar, Bhutan and Bangladesh, as well as setting up bases there to mount attacks on India.

India shares a 1,640km border with Myanmar and has been raising the issue of several north-eastern militant outfits having training camps in Myanmar. One of the groups that India believes is based in Myanmar is the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN)’s Khaplang faction. India had signed a peace accord with a second NSCN faction in August last year.

Security concerns were key in India deciding to switch tracks and begin engaging with the military government in Myanmar in the mid-1990s after backing Suu Kyi in her fight for democracy till then. Suu Kyi, who was put under house arrest for many years, called India’s action “disappointing” when freed in 2011.

On Monday, Modi said India and Myanmar were also looking at a “long-term and mutually beneficial arrangement for trade in pulses”. And after supplying power to Tamu, India was willing to “substantially scale up” the supply of power to Myanmar, he said.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.