Source: The Sangai Express / Pallab Bhattacharya (PTI)
Nay Pyi Taw (Myanmar), February 06 2009:
Facing heat from the new Bangladesh Government, some insurgent groups active in India's North-East have shifted bases to Myannmar whose military junta assured New Delhi today its territory will not be used to target India.
The junta's assurance came after visiting Vice President Hamid Ansari raised the security issue stemming from reports of insurgents taking shelter in Myanmar which shares border with the North-Eastern states of Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland during a meeting with Gen Maung Aye, the number two in ruling military regime yesterday.
On the second day of his four-day visit to Myanmar, Ansari held "extremely comprehensive" talks with the head of military junta Gen Than Shwe here today after which the two countries took "concrete decisions" to enhance cooperation in security, hydrocarbon and power sectors and agreed to widen its ambit to agriculture and railways.
At the delegation-level talks between the two sides, which followed a brief one-to-one meeting between Ansari and Gen Aye yesterday, the Myanmarese side acknowledged India's security concerns but conveyed that the north-east insurgents would not be permitted to use its territory to target India, sources said.
Since India began engaging the Myanmarese military junta, there has been cooperation between security forces of the two countries in flushing out the North-East insurgents.
Myanmar's assurance regarding North-East insurgents assumed significance as India, which had kept the military junta at arms length for a long time after the 1988 crackdown on pro-democracy protests, changed tack when it found its security interests in north-eastern states were in jeopardy.
"We have taken concrete decisions on how to enhance economic cooperation in the areas of hydrocarbon, security and power," Ansari told journalists accompanying him on board Air India's special aircraft on his way from Myanmar's administrative capital here to the country's business hub Yangon after talks with Gen Shwe.
He, however, did not specify what the decisions were.
"I had extremely fruitful and extremely comprehensive discussions covering the entire gamut of bilateral relations with Vice Senior Gen Maung Aye and Senior General Than Shwe.
All bilateral issues were discussed," Ansari said wrapping up the most substantive part of his four-day visit to Myanmar after arriving here yesterday.
The Vice President said the two countries have resolved to move further ahead expeditiously for the economic cooperation.
Ansari's remarks about "concrete decisions" came after his talks with Gen Shwe that went on for more than an hour as against the scheduled time of half an hour.