India-Myanmar Discuss Key Issues at 35th ASEAN Summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi met State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi of Myanmar on the margins of the 35th ASEAN Summit on November 03, 2019. The two Leaders recognised that strong ties across all pillars of cooperation were in the fundamental interests of both the countries.

Crux of the Matter

1. PM Modi emphasised that India would continue its commitment to improve physical connectivity to and through Myanmar to Southeast Asia by building road, ports and other infrastructure.

2. State Counsellor Suu Kyi reaffirmed the importance of the partnership and appreciated India’s consistent and sustained support for the widening of democracy and deepening of development in Myanmar.

3. Modi conveyed India’s readiness to expand its socio-economic projects in the country’s Rakhine state and support the expansion of capacity for Myanmar’s police, military and civil servants. This is part of India’s policy to help Myanmar deal with its Rohingya refugee problem internally.

4. In the recent past both countries have been dealing with the Rohingya refugee crisis. Myanmar’s dercognition of the Rohingya population and alleged atrocities has caused them to migrate to neighbouring countries like India and Bangladesh. Officially India has refused to accept the burgeoning immigrant population and has asked Myanmar to deescalate the situation to solve it.

Curiopedia

Aung San Suu Kyi is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate (1991). She is the leader of the National League for Democracy and the first and incumbent State Counsellor, a position akin to a prime minister. The youngest daughter of Aung San, Father of the Nation of modern-day Myanmar, and Khin Kyi, Aung San Suu Kyi was born in Rangoon, British Burma. She is a graduate from Delhi University and Oxford. Aung San Suu Kyi rose to prominence in the 1988 Uprisings, and became the General Secretary of the National League for Democracy (NLD), which she had newly formed with the help of several retired army officials who criticized the military junta. In the 1990 elections, NLD won 81% of the seats in Parliament, but the results were nullified, as the military refused to hand over power, resulting in an international outcry. She had, however, already been detained under house arrest before the elections. She remained under house arrest for almost 15 of the 21 years from 1989 to 2010, becoming one of the world’s most prominent political prisoners. More Info

Curated Coverage

1. NDTV – PM Modi Meets Myanmar’s State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi

2. MEA Press Release – Prime Minister meeting with State Counsellor of Myanmar

3. Economic Times – India attaches importance to Myanmar’s cooperation against insurgent groups: PM Modi to Suu Kyi

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