India Myanmar talks: Ajit Doval meets President U Min Aung Hlaing ahead of Modi meeting

National Security Advisor Shri Ajit Doval met Myanmar President U Min Aung Hlaing during the leader’s five-day visit to India. The visit sets up wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi focused on trade, connectivity, border security, and defence. Myanmar’s long border with India makes the relationship strategically important.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval met Myanmar President U Min Aung Hlaing on Sunday. The meeting covered key matters linked to India-Myanmar relations. The talks came during U Min Aung Hlaing’s five-day visit to India. The visit includes planned discussions on trade, connectivity, border security and defence.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to hold wide-ranging talks with U Min Aung Hlaing on Monday. The agenda is set to focus on strengthening ties in several areas. These include trade links, cross-border connectivity projects, border security cooperation and defence engagement between the two countries.

India-Myanmar border security and connectivity talks

At a weekly media briefing on Friday, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said talks would cover several issues. These included border security and connectivity matters. India and Myanmar share a 1,640-kilometre border. The border touches northeastern states, including militancy-hit Nagaland and Manipur.

Randhir Jaiswal also posted about the meeting on X. The spokesperson wrote, "NSA Shri Ajit Doval called on President U Min Aung Hlaing of Myanmar today\". The post linked the meeting to the wider set of official engagements planned during the visit.

Myanmar president visit and bilateral ties

U Min Aung Hlaing is travelling with a high-level delegation. The group includes cabinet ministers, senior officials and business leaders. The visit also includes a Mumbai programme. U Min Aung Hlaing is due to travel to Mumbai on June 2 for business interactions and site visits.

U Min Aung Hlaing’s India trip comes under two months after becoming president. The change followed Myanmar’s parliamentary elections held in December and January. The elections came after years of protests. Protesters opposed the ruling military-junta that took power on February 1, 2021.

The February 1, 2021 coup removed the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi. Since then, Myanmar has remained important for India’s regional security planning. Officials have often linked bilateral work to border stability. The current visit is expected to address practical cooperation areas flagged by both sides.

U Min Aung Hlaing was earlier expected in New Delhi on June 1 for the International Big Cat Alliance Summit. That summit has been deferred. Despite that change, the five-day schedule continues with political and business engagements. The visit keeps attention on trade, connectivity, border security and defence talks.

With inputs from PTI