Indian air chief visiting Myanmar
Nov 21, 2006 - 1:30:43 AM
, Reviewed by: Priya Saxena
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There are also reports that India has transferred substantial quantities of small arms and ammunition to Myanmar but these have not been independently verified.
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By Indo Asian News Service,
[RxPG] New Delhi, Nov 20 (IANS) The Indian Air Force (IAF) chief, Air Chief Marshal S.P. Tyagi, is currently in Myanmar on what has been described as a 'goodwill visit'.
Tyagi, who left here Saturday, is expected to return over the weekend, a defence ministry official said.
Analysts here pointed out that given the fact Tyagi would be spending five days in a country that is largely shunned by the international community, showed there was much more than 'goodwill' involved in the visit, given the fact that New Delhi and Yangon have steadily been increasing their economic and military engagement over the past few years.
The highlight of this interaction was President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam's the visit to Myanmar earlier this year.
During the three-day visit, Kalam held talks with Myanmar's military strongman General Than Shwe. The visit to Myanmar was seen as an important political gesture by India, reciprocating an October 2004 visit to India by Shwe that renewed bilateral diplomatic relations.
Simultaneously, India has been a vocal supporter of Nobel Prize winning democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been under house arrest in Yangon since the military junta's 1988 crack down on the country's pro-democracy movement.
Even so, Myanmar is firmly on the radar of India's 'Look East' policy that aims at strengthening ties with all the countries of Southeast Asia.
India has also transferred to the Myanmar Air Force an Islander transport aircraft in spite of vehement opposition from Britain, which threatened to cut off supplies for the remaining Islanders being operated by the Indian armed forces.
There are also reports that India has transferred substantial quantities of small arms and ammunition to Myanmar but these have not been independently verified.
New Delhi has also been able to persuade Yangon to take action against rebels from India's northeast who are sheltering in the dense jungles on the Myanmarese side of the border. There is, however, no proposal to conduct joint operations, officials said.
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