NAYPYIDAW: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and the two leaders were expected to discuss wide-ranging topics.
Modi’s visit to Myanmar comes amid a spike in ethnic violence with Rohingya Muslims in the Rakhine state.
Modi spoke on development and terrorism, while announcing that India would begin giving Myamarese citizens visas free of charge.
“We share your concerns about extremist violence in Rakhine state and violence against security forces and how innocent lives have been affected,” Modi said, standing next to Suu Kyi at a joint press briefing.
Suu Kyi responded saying, “Would like to thank India for taking a strong stand on the terror threat that Myanmar faced recently.”
“We hope that all stakeholders together can find a way out in which unity and territorial integrity of Myanmar is respected. At the same time we can have peace, justice, dignity and democratic values for all,” Modi further said.
The Indian government is also concerned about Rohingya immigrants in the country and has been considering deporting them. Around 40,000 Rohingyas are said to be staying illegally in India.
India and Myanmar were also looking at strengthening existing cooperation in areas of security and counter- terrorism, trade and investment, infrastructure and energy, and culture, Modi had said ahead of his visit.
This is PM Modi’s first bilateral visit to Myanmar. He had visited the country in 2014 to attend the ASEAN-India Summit.