India, Myanmar agree to implement pending projects

New Delhi, June 20 (UNI) India and Myanmar have agreed to expeditiously implement infrastructure projects which are in different stages of negotiation, and took stock of the common security challenges facing the two countries stressing the need to keep their borders peaceful.

At the seventh round of the Foreign Office Consultations held in Yangon on June 18, the two sides discussed the entire gamut of bilateral relations, with special emphasis on issues like security, energy, trade and economic cooperation and infrastructure projects.

While noting the excellent state of bilateral ties, both sides explored ways and means to exploit the immense potential for cooperation in areas such as energy and trade.

The Indian side was led by Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran who was accompanied by senior officials of the Ministry of External Affairs while the Myanmar delegation was headed by Deputy Foreign Minister Mr U Kyaw Thu.

''Myanmar is a close and friendly neighbour of India which provides us a gateway to ASEAN. The strategic importance of our ties with Myanmar can, therefore, be hardly overemphasised,'' a spokesman of the External Affairs Ministry said here today.

President A P J Abdul Kalam's state visit to Myanmar in March was an important milestone in bilateral relations.

''The present Foreign Office Consultations with Myanmar provided an excellent opportunity to take follow-up action on that visit and outline further steps that needed to be taken to enhance bilateral cooperation in various spheres,'' the spokesman added. UNI RB LR RN1737