Myanmar vows its territory won’t be used to threaten India during PM meet
India and Myanmar on Monday reviewed the entire spectrum of their ties during talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Myanmar President U Min Aung Hlaing. Aung Hlaing is on a five-day trip to India. The visit comes less than two months after he became the president following Myanmar’s parliamentary elections.
Giving details later about the parleys, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said, “The President of Myanmar, in particular, reiterated the assurance that Myanmar’s territory would not be permitted to be used against India’s security interests.”
“The prime minister reaffirmed India’s support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Myanmar and both sides underscored the importance of preventing the misuse of sovereign territory for activities inimical to their security interests,” Misri added.
Myanmar is one of India’s strategic neighbours and it shares a 1,640-kilometer-long border with a number of northeastern states, including Nagaland and Manipur.
Responding to a question on Aung San Suu Kyi, Misri said, “It was a bit of a free-wheeling discussion. I should underline that our engagement with Myanmar is not intended to be a commentary on the internal political arrangement in that country.”
Both sides expressed interest in forging closer cooperation, particularly in areas of trade and investment, health, education, energy, and critical technologies like artificial intelligence.
Both sides agreed to facilitate and enhance bilateral trade, including through the Rupee-Kyat settlement mechanism, and appreciated the steady growth in the volume of transactions recorded since its operationalisation in May 2024.
Both sides also expressed support for closer trade and investment cooperation in the areas of mutual interest such as agro-processing, petroleum, energy, mining sectors, in accordance with their respective national laws and regulations.
National Security Advisor (NSA)Ajit Doval on Sunday met Aung Hlaing and discussed key issues relating to bilateral ties. The Myanmarese leader is accompanied by a high-level delegation comprising several cabinet ministers, senior officials and business leaders.
A joint statement on the talks said in his interaction with the President, the Prime Minister stated that Myanmar lies at the confluence of India’s Neighbourhood First, Act East and MAHASAGAR (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions) policies.
The discussions underscored the importance of strengthening bilateral cooperation, including trade and economic ties, defence and security, border management, development assistance and cultural exchanges. Both sides noted ongoing discussions on various bilateral Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding and looked forward to their early conclusion.
PM Modi underlined that enhanced connectivity would foster mutually beneficial economic linkages and shared prosperity in the region. In this regard, both sides shared the importance of working closely towards the completion of Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport project and the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway.
He also conveyed that the Mekong Ganga ICCR scholarships for Myanmar students would be enhanced from 36 to 100 from 2026 onwards.
The PM further reaffirmed India’s support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar while conveying support for the country’s efforts towards achieving peace, stability, national reconciliation and socio-economic development. He also offered continued assistance and cooperation, based on mutual respect and friendly relations between the two countries.
