Reuters, Naypyidaw :
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Wednesday that India shared Myanmar’s concern about “extremist violence” in its Rakhine state, where a security force operation against Rohingya Muslims has sent about 125,000 people fleeing to Bangladesh.
PM Modi said India and Myanmar had similar security interests in the region. “We share your concerns about extremist violence in Rakhine state and specially the violence against security forces and how innocent lives have been affected,” he said.
“We hope that all the stakeholders together can find a way out in which the unity and territorial integrity of Myanmar is respected and at the same time we can have peace, justice dignity and democratic values for all.” PM Modi spoke after talks with Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi during a visit aimed at expanding commercial ties as part of an “Act East” policy, and pushing back against Chinese influence.
Suu Kyi told a joint news conference with PM Modi at the presidential palace in the capital, Naypyidaw, that Myanmar was grateful for India’s stance on the attack on her country and they could work together to face the challenge.
“We would like to thank India particularly for its strong stand that it has taken with regard to terrorist threat that came to our country a couple of weeks ago,” she said in brief remarks. “We believe that together we can work to make sure that terrorism is not allowed to take root on our soil,” Suu Kyi said. The meeting between PM Modi and Suu Kyi came on a day she was quoted as telling Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that global outrage over Myanmar’s treatment of its Rohingya Muslims was being fuelled by “a huge iceberg of misinformation”. Sympathy for the Rohingya was being generated by “a huge iceberg of misinformation calculated to create a lot of problems between different communities and with the aim of promoting the interest of the terrorists”, Suu Kyi was quoted by an official statement as telling Erdogan in a call. Suu Kyi has come under fire in recent days for failing to speak out against violence targeting Rohingyas, particularly given her previous image as a champion of human rights.
Hundreds have died since Rohingya militants raided police posts in Myanmar’s Rakhine State.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also called for the Muslims of Rakhine state to be given either nationality or legal status, and voiced concern about violence that has since late August forced nearly 125,000 people to flee and risk destabilising the region. India and Myanmar today signed 11 agreements in a range of sectors, including one on maritime security cooperation, to further strengthen their multifaceted partnership. India and Myanmar signed an MoU to strengthen maritime security cooperation.
The two sides also signed an agreement for sharing white shipping information to improve data sharing on non-classified merchant navy ships or cargo ships. The 11 MoUs also include one between the Election Commission and Union Election of Myanmar, the national level electoral commission of Myanmar. An MoU was also signed to organise cultural exchange programme for the period 2017-2020, according to a statement issued by ministry of external affairs.
The two countries also signed agreements on cooperation between Myanmar Press Council and Press Council of India, extension of agreement on the establishment of India-Myanmar Centre for Enhancement of IT skill. They also signed agreements to cooperate in ‘Medical Products Regulation’ and in the field of health and medicine.
