Modi to hold talks with Suu Kyi today
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Modi met Myanmar President U Htin Kyaw yesterday and will hold official talks with Aung San Suu Kyi today.
India will announce big increases in security and development assistance to Myanmar, when Modi engages the leadership in NayPyiDaw on Wednesday, as India struggles to play catch-up with a huge Chinese presence in the country, reports Times of India.
Two issues will influence India's activities in Myanmar -- the Rohingya crisis and Chinese dominance in Myanmar, which is most evident in the Kyaukhphu port and gas pipeline running through Myanmar to Kunming. But Myanmar has invited India to play a balancing role and New Delhi now appears to be in a better place to do so.
The migration of Rohingya, a minority Muslim community settled in the Rakhine State of Myanmar, who are now fleeing the country after being caught in violent ethnic clashes, have become a political issue in the northeastern states that share a border with Myanmar for nearly 1,600km, reports the Hindu.
The human rights organisation, Amnesty International, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should “use his visit to urge the Myanmarese authorities to protect civilians and allow humanitarian aid to the affected areas”.
“As a historic friend of Myanmar, India can play an important role in defusing tensions and saving civilian lives. Prime Minister Modi must urge the Myanmar authorities to address the long-standing and systematic discrimination against Rohingya and other Muslims in Rakhine State, which has left people trapped in a cycle of violence and deprivation,” said Aakar Patel, executive director of Amnesty International India.
The issue was also heard by the Supreme Court on Monday after two undocumented Rohingya immigrants petitioned it, challenging the Centre's deportation plan.
Modi arrived in Nay Pyi Taw in Myanmar yesterday on his first bilateral visit to Myanmar to chart out a roadmap for closer cooperation in areas like security and counter-terrorism.
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.
Myanmar is one of India's strategic neighbours and shares a 1,640-km-long border with a number of northeastern states including militancy-hit Nagaland and Manipur.
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