Janjivan Bureau / Nay Pyi Taw: Prime Minister Narendra Modi today announced that India will grant gratis visa to Myanmarese citizens wanting to visit the country. Modi made the announcement during his joint press statement with State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi after the two leaders held wide-ranging talks here.
“I am pleased to announce that we have decided to grant gratis (no-cost) visa to all the citizens of Myanmar who want to visit India,” Modi said.
He also announced that India has decided to release 40 Myanmarese citizens, currently lodged in various jails in India.
“We hope that they will soon be able to meet their families in Myanmar,” the prime minister said. Modi also asserted that India stands by Myanmar amid the challenges the country is facing.
“I am confident that in future we will work together to create a strong and close partnership for mutual benefits,” Modi said.
Earlier, during the delegation-level talks, Modi said, “We would like to contribute to Myanmar’s development efforts as part of our ‘Sabka saath sabka vikaas’ initiative.”
He said deepening the relationship with Myanmar was a priority for India, as a neighbour and also in the context of the ‘Act East Policy’.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today presented Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi with a special copy of the original research proposal she submitted for her fellowship in 1986.
“Presented Daw Aung San Suu Kyi a special reproduction of original research proposal she submitted for fellowship at IIAS (Indian Institute of Advanced Study), Shimla in May 1986,” Modi said in a tweet.
Prime Minister Modi is on his first bilateral visit to Myanmar where he held wide-ranging talks with Suu Kyi. After the meeting, Modi gifted the 72-year-old nobel laureate a copy of her original research proposal titled ‘The Growth and Development of Burmese and Indian Intellectual Traditions Under Colonialism: A Comparative Study’.
Suu Kyi has a strong connection with India. She studied political science from the Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi and graduated in 1964.
She was also a fellow in Shimla at the prestigious Indian Institute of Advanced Studies. Suu Kyi had also spent time with her husband Michael Aris and two sons Kim and Alexander in the former summer capital of the British India.
Modi arrived here yesterday on the second leg of his two-nation trip during which he travelled to southeastern Chinese city Xiamen where he attended the annual BRICS summit and held talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin and other world leaders.
