NAY PYI TAW, March 3 � Irked by the free run enjoyed by the outlawed ULFA and its elusive commander-in-chief Paresh Barua, India is likely to call on Myanmar to mount a crackdown on the militant outfits of North-east India operating from the neighbouring country.
The activities of the militant outfits and issues connected with trade and commerce and connectivity are expected to figure during the bilateral discussion when Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh is expected to meet President of Myanmar Thein Sein this evening. Dr Singh in fact, has a long line of bilateral meetings lined up for Tuesday.
The Prime Minister, perhaps on his last foreign tour before he demits office, arrived to a red carpet welcome to take part in the Third BIMSTEC Summit in this rather sparsely populated capital city here this afternoon. He is accompanied by his wife Gursharan Kaur and other members of his family.
�BIMSTEC lies at the crossroads between SAARC and ASEAN, drawing its energy from the natural convergence of the countries around the Bay of Bengal. Connectivity and sub-regional cooperation in trade and investment, energy, climate, tourism, agriculture and other areas provide the spark for the growth engine in our region. Security challenges, both natural and man-made, require our collective vision and determination to be overcome. Peace, stability and development in BIMSTEC countries, with over 20 per cent of the world�s population and over USD 2.5 trillion worth of GDP, is indispensible for the forward march of Asia as a whole,� the Prime Minister said in his departure statement.
�In the security sphere, we have steadily put in place enabling legal instruments for regional approaches to international terrorism, transnational crime, drug trafficking and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters, the need for which is more salient in today�s integrated world than ever before. We set great store by BIMSTEC cooperation in the years ahead, for which this Summit should play a critical role,� he said.
Meanwhile, interacting with newsmen, a top official when asked whether India was going to take up the issue of Paresh Barua�s presence in Myanmar, said that India has an ongoing dialogue with Myanmar. �Yes we are talking to them about all these issues including Indian Insurgent Groups (IIGs), who are in Myanmar,� he asserted.
India is also expected to raise the issue of recent tensions in Moreh sector over erection of boundary pillars.
India is also likely to take up the brutal killing of two Manipur-based Sikh businessmen in Myanmar recently. �Two Indians, having valid passports were killed. Myanmar has taken up the issue seriously and they are the ones who came to us and told us. These two people were picked up and taken away and then brutally killed.
