At the time, Aung San Suu Kyi herself was an activist against the China-invested Myitsone dam.
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Plans for the $3.6 billion (3.18 billion euro) Myitsone hydropower project, which was due to be built in the Kachin state, were suspended in 2011 after widespread environmental protests.
Prioritizing China shows “the Myanmar government and yourself highly value relations” with their northern neighbor, Li said during a reception at the Great Hall of People before reporters were shown out of the room.
“I’m glad to meet with Myanmar’s State Councilor”. The dam project was a joint venture between the two countries, but it was supsended by the former government of Myanmar five years ago.
As long as talks can be put back on a pragmatic track regardless of ideological differences and free from Western countries’ intervention, it is only a matter of time before the project will be resumed.
She was feted by President Xi Jinping during a visit to Beijing, a rare occurrence for an.
She vowed to follow a different development strategy than the export-led model favoured by China and other East Asian countries.
For her part, Aung San Suu Kyi expects the visit to further promote ties between the two nations.
China is Myanmar’s largest trading partner, as well as the biggest source of foreign investment in the country.
In recent years, both countries have have worked on their bilateral ties on several fronts.
Suu Kyi remains an icon to many people in Myanmar, and that may give her the standing to seek a deal that allows the dam to go forward under different circumstances, Connelly said.
Apart from Beijing, she will also visit other cities.
“She also said that she is willing to look for a resolution that suits both sides’ interests via both sides’ energy administrations’ cooperation”.
India and Myanmar share close relations with a robust development cooperation programme in areas such as agriculture, IT, human resource development, infrastructure development, culture, etc.
“Rejection is better”, said U Myo Thant, secretary of the Myanmar Earthquake Committee.
The visit is Suu Kyi’s first major diplomatic overture as de facto leader, after a new government took power in April.
The report noted that the visit was occurring ahead of the Panglong 21st Century peace conference late this month.
Suu Kyi, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, has convened a national meeting on August 31 with ethnic minorities to try and find a political solution to decades of separatist struggles.
“Grant agreements will be signed on the construction of two hospitals and a bridge between the two sides”, Aye Aye Soe, the ministry’s deputy director-general, told Reuters. The two leaders witnessed the signing ceremony.
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Suu Kyi will be in China for four days at the invitation of Premier Li Keqiang.
