We will not allow our territory to be used against India’s interests: Myanmar | News from India

Misri said the leaders discussed cooperation in defense and security, critical minerals and rare earths, as well as connectivity projects.

Modi also raised the issue of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained in Myanmar since the 2021 military coup.

“The Prime Minister reaffirmed India’s support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Union Republic of Myanmar, and both sides underlined the importance of preventing the misuse of sovereign territory for activities contrary to their security interests. The President of Myanmar, in particular, reiterated the assurance that the territory of Myanmar would not be allowed to be used against the security interests of India,” Misri said.

“The internal security aspect is obviously the effort of the State of Myanmar to bring together all armed organizations and ethnic groups on a single platform to move the peace process forward…this is something that we obviously have an interest in, because stability and peace in Myanmar is of major interest to India, not only for the security of the North East and the safety and security of the people living along the 1,643 km long border that we have with them, but also for our interests, such as connectivity with Southeast Asia,” Misri said.

“Security and stability in Myanmar are also important for the coherence of ASEAN as a whole, as Myanmar is an important and large country within ASEAN,” he said, highlighting the regional dimension.

“Apart from this, there is the very important issue of the activities of Indian insurgent groups in Myanmar, near our borders, and this is a subject that the Prime Minister has raised with the President. The President once again reiterated his assurance that Myanmar is sensitive to these concerns and will do everything necessary to ensure that action is taken on them and that they do not become a threat to India’s security,” he said.

Responding to questions about Suu Kyi, Misri said: “The prime minister raised this issue with the president, and it was a discussion that took place largely in the context of the peace process… in the context of the points that the prime minister was making about the need… for inclusion, the need to have all stakeholders at the table and to consider the views of all the interlocutors who took part in this process… it was a bit of a free-form discussion on this issue, and this is where issues related to democracy were also discussed. pupil. »

Stressing that engagement with Myanmar is “not intended to be a comment on its internal political arrangements”, Misri said: “We have always proceeded on the principle that sustained dialogue is what is important and… an imperative for India as a neighbor… the answer is clearly not disengagement… So we have consistently engaged, and while engaging, we have always expressed our thoughts on all these issues related to democracy, peace process, inclusiveness and absolute importance to have all stakeholders in dialogue at the table.

“We have always believed that ultimately the difficulties facing Myanmar will have to be resolved by the people of Myanmar through discussions among themselves. It will have to be a Myanmar-led solution and a Myanmar-owned solution,” he said.

On defense cooperation, Misri said the focus was on “training”, “capacity building”, institution building and UN peacekeeping. “…we have a 1,643 km long border. There are important defense and security interests in the context of this border, and this is also something that is discussed when various mechanisms related to defense cooperation come together,” he said.

Misri also said that in the last year and a half, more than 2,400 Indian citizens have been repatriated from cyber scam complexes in Myanmar. “Right now, we know of more than 150 Indian citizens… who are still stuck in some of these cyber scam complexes… we are in touch with the Myanmar government to try to repatriate them as well,” he said.

On the two major connectivity-related projects – the Kaladan Multi-Modal Mass Transit Project and the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway Project – Misri said: “These projects have been in progress for several years and they have been delayed… At present, the obstacle facing these two projects is the security situation in Myanmar. The Kaladan Highway is in an area where active hostilities are taking place between the Myanmar Army and the ethnic armies of Myanmar. Rakhine State; the section of the Trilateral Highway where the work was underway is in an area where ethnic armed groups are very active… Nevertheless, we continued to engage with the Myanmar authorities, and wherever there was an opportunity to advance the work using either lulls in the fighting or ensuring that the safety of workers was not affected, we were able to move forward, but this is something that remains a major priority. today, and the President once again gave assurance that Myanmar will do everything to ensure that these projects move towards completion,” he said.

Modi also said that Mekong Ganga ICCR scholarships for Myanmar students would increase from 36 to 100 from 2026.

The Myanmar President, who arrived in Delhi on Saturday after visiting Bodh Gaya, also met President Droupadi Murmu, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. He will travel to Mumbai on Tuesday.