February 29, 2020 | By: SAM Staff South Asian Monitor
Myanmar and India have signed 10 agreements, including five memorandums of understanding (MoUs), during President U Win Myint’s four-day state visit to India.
The leaders discussed numerous bilateral and international issues, according to a joint statement.
The president was welcomed by his Indian counterpart, Ram Nath Kovind, at the presidential palace, the Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on Thursday and by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House.
The joint statement said the visit “reinforced the tradition of high-level interactions, symbolizing the strong friendly relations existing between the two neighbours”. The countries share a land border of more than 1,600 km as well as a maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal.
Deals were signed on enhancing cooperation on bilateral energy, trade, development, defense and maritime security and combating terrorism and violent extremism.
Five MoUs signed involve cooperation over petroleum products; cooperation to prevent people trafficking, cooperation on timber trafficking and conservation of tigers and other wildlife.
There was also an MoU between India’s Ministry of Communication and Myanmar’s Ministry of Transport and Communications and another on health research between the Indian Council of Medical Research and Myanmar’s Department of Medical Research, under the Ministry of Health and Sports.
To boost economic cooperation and tourism, both sides agreed to work together to launch the Indian RuPay card in Myanmar and an India-Myanmar digital payment gateway for cross-border remittances.
They agreed to construct a modern check post at Tamu, a border town in Sagaing Region which faces Moreh in the Indian state of Manipur.
The visit deepened defense and maritime security cooperation, building on an agreement signed last year.