Twelfth India-Myanmar Foreign Office Consultations

The Twelfth India-Myanmar Foreign Office Consultations were held in New Delhi. The Indian delegation was led by Foreign Secretary Shri Ranjan Mathai and the Myanmar delegation was led by Deputy Foreign Minister U Thant Kyaw. The Consultations were held in a warm and cordial atmosphere and both sides reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relationship and discussed regional and international issues of mutual interest. The two sides expressed satisfaction over the deepening of the bilateral relations between India and Myanmar, which has rapidly grown and gained momentum, including though the exchange of high level visits in the past year. The two sides reviewed and positively assessed the implementation of the decisions during the visits of the President of Myanmar to India in October 2011 and that of the Prime Minister of India to Myanmar in May 2012. In this context, it was noted that significant progress has been achieved in taking forward the initiatives related to enhancing connectivity through land, sea and air; promoting bilateral cooperation and exchanges in the areas of security, trade and commerce, banking, agriculture, health, science and technology, information technology, culture; infrastructure development; capacity building and human resource development; organization of training for the Myanmar Parliamentarians and Parliamentary staff in India; and promotion of people to people contacts, among others. India has pressed for crackdown on insurgent groups of North-East including Paresh Barua-led faction of ULFA operating out of Myanmar. Under pressure of the North Eastern States mainly Assam and Manipur, New Delhi has been urging Myanmar to flush out the militants. Major insurgents groups of Manipur, Naga rebels and anti-talk faction of ULFA have been operating out of bases in Myanmar for long, taking advantage of the porous border, rough terrain and an indifferent Myanmari regime. It was agreed that the next round of Foreign Office Consultations would be held in Myanmar in 2013 at mutually convenient dates to be decided through diplomatic channels.