New Delhi, July 20 (IANS) Continuing with its efforts to forge strong ties with Myanmar, India will on Aug. 1 welcome its neighbour's top military general, when the two sides are expected to discuss furthering their cooperation in the defence and security sectors.
General Min Aung Hlaing, the Myanmar armed forces commander-in-chief, will be here on a week-long stay till August 8 when he is scheduled to meet with Indian Defence Minister A.K. Antony, navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma, air force chief Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne and army chief General Bikram Singh.
He will also visit Buddhist pilgrim centres like Bodhgaya.
India's Kolkata-based Eastern Command, which is responsible for security in the northeast bordering Myanmar, will host the visitor and so would the Visakhapatnam-based Eastern Naval Command.
The Myanmar general's visit comes just two months after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh visited the country, the first such trip by an Indian prime minister in a quarter of a century.
India now has robust bilateral ties with Myanmar, which transitioned into democracy in 2010 after several decades of military rule.
It has also steadfastly supported Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, whom Manmohan Singh met in Yangon, the former capital, during his visit.
During this decade, India has supplied military equipment to Myanmar such as an Islander maritime patrol plane apart from 105mm light artillery guns, naval gunboats, mortars, grenade launchers and rifles.
--Indo-Asian News Service
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