External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will travel to Myanmar on Friday to attend important conferences of ASEAN and East Asian countries. Swaraj will attend three multilaterals — 12th annual India-ASEAN Foreign Ministers meet, Ministerial Conference of East Asia Summit (EAS) and ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF). This will be Swaraj’s first participation at multilateral fora as the Foreign Minister.
Besides these meetings, Swaraj will also have meetings with her counterparts from Myanmar, China, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Brunei and Canada. Swaraj’s bilateral with Australian counterpart Julie Bishop also assumes significance given that Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbot is scheduled to visit India in September. During her four-day visit to Myanmar capital Nay Pyi Taw, Swaraj will also call on Myanmar President and Speaker among other senior leaders. She will also discuss border management, trilateral highway and greater economic and security cooperation during her meetings with Myanmar leaders.
Connectivity between ASEAN States, people-to-people contact and seamless integration of economic space are on agenda for the meet. While cooperation in energy, education, disaster management, food security and connectivity will be discussed during the EAS ministerial meet. At the ARF conference, peace and security in the region will be prime focus. “India is concerned we will focus on issues relating to terrorism and as well as developments in the region in terms of peace and security, especially relating to Afghanistan,” said Syed Akbaruddin, spokesperson in the External Affairs Ministry.
Myanmar is a key partner of India in security and trade in the North-East. India shares a long boundary with Myanmar where security forces of both countries conduct a joint patrolling. Most of the pulses in India come from Myanmar. India sees connectivity through Myanmar as crucial for development of its ties with ASEAN countries. As part of India’s look East diplomacy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to visit Myanmar in November for the East Asia Summit.