Myanmar top leader meets Indian army chief in Nay Pyi Taw

[Quickgun Murugan]

Myanmar top leader meets Indian army chief in Nay Pyi Taw CCTV-International

YANGON, Oct. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chairman of Myanmar State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) Senior-General Than Shwe met with visiting Indian Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor in Nay Pyi Taw Monday, the state-run Myanmar Radio and Television reported in the evening.

Earlier on the day, another meeting between Kapoor and SPDC Vice-Chairman Vice Senior-General Maung Aye had also taken place.

Maung Aye is also Myanmar Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Services and Commander-in-Chief of the Army.

The report did not disclose the details about their separate meetings.

Kapoor, who is also chairman of the chiefs of staff committee of India, arrived at the new capital on Sunday on a three-day visit to Myanmar, aimed at boosting bilateral cooperation in the defense sector.

Kapoor's visit came eight months after Indian Vice-President Shri M. Hamid Ansari visited Nay Pyi Taw in February this year at the invitation of Maung Aye.

In April 2008, Maung Aye visited New Delhi, assuring Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh that Myanmar will never allow using its territory to any organization that harm neighboring countries, while acknowledging that India does not allow its territory to movement of organizations against Myanmar.

During Maung Aye's visit, three documents between the two governments were signed, of which a memorandum of understanding on intelligence exchange is to combat transnational crime including terrorism.

 

[LETHALFORCE]

India should be more involved with Burma in a military sense, especially since Bangladesh has made their anti-Indian pro Chinese stance clear, but if there is any Burma Bangladesh conflict both China and India will be helping Burma.

 

[Daredevil]

India should be more involved with Burma in a military sense, especially since Bangladesh has made their anti-Indian pro Chinese stance clear, but if there is any Burma Bangladesh conflict both China and India will be helping Burma.

LF, right now we have good relations with both Myanmar and Bangladesh. Also, China has good relations with both countries. Relations have improved with BD because of Awami League govt. which is Pro-India and it has been since the inception of BD from Pakistan. Relationship with BD sours only when BNP is in govt. who are pro-Pakistan. So wish for Awami League govt. in BD forever.

 

[Quickgun Murugan]

India should be more involved with Burma in a military sense, especially since Bangladesh has made their anti-Indian pro Chinese stance clear, but if there is any Burma Bangladesh conflict both China and India will be helping Burma.

It is true that India has more to gain from Burma than from Bangladesh, but I am not aware how Bangladesh govt had made anti-indian stance clear?

 

[amitkriit]

From long term perspective Indian relation with Myanmar have more potential and this relation will surely be more stable than Indo-bangladesh relation which goes on-and-off. It has several reason, foremost is the demographics, second one is the history. India will surely use Myanmar angle to turn a few keys as far as Bangladesh is concerned. Myanmar itself is looking out for partners, to get out of Chinese shadow by courting USA/India.

 

[Quickgun Murugan]

Than Shwe Meets India’s Army Chief

Than Shwe Meets India’s Army Chief


Snr-Gen Than Shwe, the head of the Burmese junta, met with India’s visiting army chief Gen Deepak Kapoor in Napyidaw on Monday.

According to Burma’s state-run-newspapers, Than Shwe received Gen Deepak Kapoor and his delegation along with other top ranking junta generals including Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, Gen Shwe Mann, Gen Tin Aung Myint Oo.

Lt-Gen Ye Myint, the chief of Burmese military intelligence, called Military Affairs Security, was also in the welcoming delegation, reflecting the importance of counter insurgency and ethnic issues along the Indo-Burma border.

Before the meeting, Than Shwe, the Indian army chief met with Maung Aye on Monday morning, along with the head of Military Ordnance, Lt-Gen Tin Aye, which underscored the importance of India as a supplier of military hardware to the regime.

A few days earlier, Deepak Kapoor told India’s Time Now television that India’s army is capable of countering any Chinese military threat. India has accused China of incursions into its territory during the past two years.

Commenting on China, he said: “The Indian army is capable of looking after the defense of the country. So, it would take care of any aggression. Certain offensive actions are also part of the overall defense. We do not have any designs on anyone else's territory, but we would like to defend our territory.”

Following the Indian general’s visit, observers noted that the military regime also received US Sen. James Webb in August. Both actions are seen as countering Beijing’s influence in the region and an effort to reduce Burma’s dependency on China.

“Traditionally Burmese leaders, including former prime minister U Nu, have been concerned about China’s influence and threats as the two countries have had historical conflicts. So Snr-Gen Than Shwe needs more friends to balance Beijing’s rising influence in Burma,” :goodstuff:said Aung Naing Oo, a Burmese political analyst based in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

Two months ago, Than Shwe met the US senator who supports an end to US sanctions on the junta. He discussed China’s influence in Burma when he met Than Shwe and the Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi during his visit.

Webb later wrote in a The New York Times column that Western sanctions “have allowed China to dramatically increase its economic and political influence” in Burma, “furthering a dangerous strategic imbalance in the region.”

“If Chinese commercial influence in Myanmar continues to grow, a military presence could easily follow,” he said.

About a week after Webb’s visit, the Burmese junta captured territory of the Kokang ethnic cease-fire group on the Sino-Burma border on August 24. Beijing has repeatedly called for a peaceful resolution to ethnic group conflicts in Burma. The junta’s Kokang offensive drove as many as 37,000 Kokang Chinese refugees to seek safety in China