India has impressed upon the military leadership in Myanmar the need to put an end to violence and maintain peace and stability in the border areas in the light of the recent incident in Churachandpur district in southern Manipur. The two countries reiterated their commitment to ensuring that their respective territories would not be allowed to be used for any activities inimical to the other.

Last month, as many as seven people, including the commandant of the 46 Assam Rifles (AR) Colonel Viplav Tripathi, his wife, son and four jawans, were killed when the convoy carrying the officer was attacked by militants at Behiang in Churachandpur district of Manipur. Six jawans suffered injuries in the attack.

India shares a 1700 km long border with Myanmar. Any developments in that country have a direct impact on India’s bordering region, especially in the North Eastern Region.

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who is on a working visit to Myanmar, called on the Chairman, State Administrative Council and other senior representatives and held meetings with members of civil society and political parties, including the National League for Democracy, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

During his meetings, Shringla emphasised India’s interest in seeing Myanmar’s return to democracy at the earliest; release of detainees and prisoners; resolution of issues through dialogue; and complete cessation of all violence. He reaffirmed India’s strong and consistent support of the ASEAN initiative and expressed hope that progress would be made in a pragmatic and constructive manner, based on the five-point consensus.

Emphasizing that India shares a long border with Myanmar, he conveyed India’s continued humanitarian support for the people of Myanmar. In the context of Myanmar’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, he handed over one million doses of “Made in India” vaccines to the Myanmar Red Cross Society. A part of this consignment would be utilised for communities living along Myanmar’s border with India. A grant of 10,000 tonnes of rice and wheat to Myanmar was also announced.

The Foreign Secretary expressed India’s continued support for people-centric socio-economic developmental projects, including those along with the India-Myanmar border areas, as well as India’s commitment for expeditious implementation of ongoing connectivity initiatives such as the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project and the Trilateral Highway. He also reiterated India’s commitment to continue with the projects under the Rakhine State Development Programme and Border Area Development Programme for the benefit of the people of Myanmar.