External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will visit Myanmar next week during which she will meet with the top leadership of the country including State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi.
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A ministerial delegate accompanying Suu Kyi said India and China are Myanmar’s important neighbours and it is important to maintain good relations with both.
Myanmar President U Htin Kyaw decided a week ago to form a new commission for reviewing all proposed hydropower projects on the Irrawaddy River, including the Myitsone Dam.
The dam project was a joint venture between the two countries, but it was supsended by the former government of Myanmar five years ago.
Liu said Premier Li reaffirmed China’s support for efforts to bring peace to northern Burma.
A number of issues are likely to be on the agenda including the fate of the controversial $3.6 billion Myitsone dam project.
China-Myanmar relationship is in a sound state of growth.
According to Myanmar officials, the visit will tackle a new and delicate era in relations, including development aid and Myanmar’s upcoming complex peace process involving the government, the military and ethnic armed groups.
China and Myanmar agreed to find a solution for the stalled Dollars 3.6 billion hydroelectric dam as Beijing rolled out the red carpet for Myanmar’s iconic leader Aung San Suu Kyi giving her a head of the government welcome reserved for Prime Ministers of foreign countries. Suu Kyi’s visit comes roughly one week after Myanmar President U Htin Kyaw chose to form a new commission for reviewing all proposed hydropower projects on the Irrawaddy River, including the Myitsone Dam, which is jointly funded by China and Myanmar, state-run Xinhua news agency said.
However, Suu Kyi, who had attended Convent of Jesus and Mary Schooland Lady Shri Ram College in New Delhi, chose to visit China in her first foreign visit since her party came to power.
She met Xi in June 2015 during a visit as head of an NLD delegation. “Otherwise, obstacles will emerge in attracting investment from China in the future and that is not what the new Burmese government and Aung San Suu Kyi want to see”.
In recent years, both countries have have worked on their bilateral ties on several fronts. A spokesman for Myanmar’s foreign affairs department said China was expected to raise the dam dispute this week.
Suu Kyi, a member of the opposition during the time, was among those who called for the suspension of the project.
Her government is holding a peace conference, with most of the country’s ethnic minority armed groups due to take part, on Aug 31.
After the talks, the two governments signed an agreement on bilateral economic and technological cooperation and an exchange of feasibility research notes for the Kunlong Bridge in Myanmar.
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Suu Kyi insisted that she would pursue the same “non-aligned” foreign policy as her predecessors.
