India and Mynamar sign pacts on port, taxation

Gulf Time
NEW DELHI: India will build a transportation and seaport system in Myanmar under an agreement that was signed after talks between Indian officials and the junta’s second-ranking leader, Senior General Maung Aye, the foreign ministry said yesterday.
The Kaladan transport corridor agreement was signed in the presence of Maung Aye and Indian Vice-President Mohamed Hamid Ansari in New Delhi on Wednesday, a ministry spokesman said.
The agreement will allow India’s northeastern states access to the sea and southeast Asia bypassing the transit through Bangladesh.
The project includes construction of a road from Setpyitpyin in Myanmar to the Indo-Myanmar border at a cost of Rs5.3bn ($132mn) as well as upgrading of the Kaladan waterway and Sittwe port.
“The project will greatly enhance connectivity between Myanmar and India, in particular with India’s northeast states,” said a statement issued by the ministry on Wednesday night.
The ministry said several agreements, including the one on the Kaladan multi-modal project and a pact for avoidance of double taxation were signed after talks between Maung and Ansari.
India has been investing in Myanmar, particularly its hydrocarbon sector, despite international criticism for its support for the military regime which violently suppressed pro-democracy protests last year.
Earlier on Wednesday, Maung held talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, President Pratibha Patil and External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee.
According to Indian officials, Singh underlined the need to expedite the process of political reforms and broad-based national reconciliation in Myanmar.
Singh said the process should involve all sections including Myanmar democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other ethnic groups.
India has maintained close contact with Myanmar’s military junta largely because it sees the smaller neighbour with oil and gas reserves playing a crucial role in helping meet its increasing energy needs, analysts say.
Ties with Myanmar are also important strategically given the latter’s increasing closeness with China.
After the junta cracked down on pro-democracy protestors in September 2007, India opposed sanctions imposed by the US and the European Union and called for a dialogue with Myanmar generals to persuade them to free pro-democracy leaders, including Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, and restore democracy.
During Maung’s five-day visit to India ending on April 6, the Myanmarese delegation will visit the Buddhist sites of Sanchi, Sarnath and Gaya.
The general is also scheduled to visit the Indian Space Research Organisation and major information technology companies in the southern city of Bangalore as well as the Reliance Petroleum refinery in Jamnagar in western Gujarat state.- DPA