The second most important figure in Myanmar’s ruling hierarchy General Maung Aye arrived in India on Wednesday to a warm welcome.
NEW DELHI: The second most important figure in Myanmar’s ruling hierarchy General Maung Aye arrived in India on Wednesday to a warm welcome. Apart from China and some leading East Asian countries, there are very few capitals in the world where any member of the ruling military junta would be received with such ceremony.
The general met prime minister Manmohan Singh, vice-president Hamid Ansari and foreign minister Pranab Mukherjee. The army chief will also call on him.
The fact that Burma is a neighbour, sharing over 1,600 km of land with India’s insurgency prone north-eastern states as well as China’s growing influence in Myanmar, has led to New Delhi embracing the military junta.
“It is all right of countries which do not share a border with Myanmar to lecture on democracy, we don’t have that luxury considering that co operation with the military junta is of strategic interest to India,”’ said an Indian official who did not wish to be identified.
The highlight of the trip is the signing of an agreement on the ambitious Kaladan corridor, which will link India’s remote north-eastern states to Myanmar’s port of Sittwe. Delhi won the Sittwe award in January (soon after the visit of Myanmarese foreign minister Nyan Win) after agreeing to the port remaining under Myanmar’s control with India able to “use” the facilities.
The Kaladan project includes upgrading the Sittwe port and Kaladan waterway and construction of a road from Setpyitpyin (Kaletwa) to the India-Myanmar border at a cost of Rs5.3 billion.
The money for the project will be provided by India. There will also be a 117km-long road in India as well as another road across the Myanmarese border to the town of Kalewa.
The government hopes the use of the port will help to solve the transport bottleneck of the north-eastern region, resulting in the area remaining one of the most backward in the country.
Bangladesh’s refusal to allow Indian goods to pass through it has led to the government seeking alternative access through the Sittwe port.
During his meeting with the general, Singh praised the military junta for announcing elections in 2010, but also urged the military to quicken the process of national reconciliation and get all sections including Aung San Suu Kyi into the political process. Reports say that the military are planning to ensure that Suu Kyi cannot participate in the national elections.
The General also called on President Pratibha Patil. He will visit Bangalore and Buddhist shrines in Varanasi, Sarnath and Gaya, before leaving on Sunday.
g_seema@dnaindia.net
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