Indian High Commissioner to Myanmar Vikram Misri said Tuesday that India has security concerns with Myanmar on the border that separates both countries, but the two sides have good cooperation in resolving such issues.
"We have a long border with Myanmar (1643-kilometer-long) where we have security concerns, there are certain insurgents groups from India that find shelters across this border," Misri told ANI in an exclusive interview.
"We have a number of mechanisms with the government of Myanmar at the security level, at the civilian level and at the level of general-level ministries of both countries which provide us opportunities to discuss these issues, and that discussion is ongoing. Wherever there are concerns, we highlight them. There is a good cooperation between the two sides," he added.
Commenting on Prime Minister's Narendra Modi's two-day bilateral visit Myanmar, High Commissioner Misri said it is a very important visit and is his first bilateral visit to the country.
"It's a very important visit. It is his first bilateral visit to the country; it is a very important neighboring country. We share a long 1500 to 1700-km-long border with this country and it's a country with which we share a long border and more importantly the country plays an important role in prime minister's foreign policy priorities. Neighborhood First . and in that context, it is an important country. So, this is going to be an important visit," he said.
Misri further said all issues related to the bilateral relationship would be discussed during the Prime Minister Modi's visit.
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Asserting that India's relationship with Myanmar has always had a very long development cooperation component; High Commissioner Misri said both countries will review all projects that India is working on.
"We have a very large development cooperation footprint in this country which is 1.75 billion dollars , number of projects are being done under that and we will review all those projects , may have been completed others on the way for completion," Misri told ANI.
High Commissioner Misri added that both countries will also discuss the new projects that can be taken up with the new government which has priorities of its own and India is looking forward to discuss priorities with the new government.
"The prime minister and leaders will discuss more importantly how India can play a role what kind of contribution India can make," he said.
He also noted that the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has been working on the Ananda Temple, which is one of the famous temples in Bagan.
"Last year, unfortunately, there was an earthquake in Myanmar which also hit Bagan and 400 historical structures were badly damaged and the Government of Myanmar, therefore, requested the Government of India to ask for the services of the ASI in restoring these historical structures. We will very soon be signing an MoU under which the ASI will restore as many as 92 such structures," he said.
Highlighting that Prime Minister Modi will visit several places of cultural and historical interest, including the Shwedagon Pagoda, which is the most sacred and famous Buddhist site in Myanmar.
The envoy added that the Prime Minister will also be visiting the Kali Temple, one of the oldest temples in Yangon, the mausoleum of the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar and also pay his respects at the martyrs mausoleum in Myanmar which is a mark of respect to founding father of this country, General Aung San.
He said, PM Modi will also pay a visit to the Aung San Museum which was the General's residence for a long period of time.
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