Foreign Secretary Shringla, Army Chief meet Myanmar’s Suu Kyi to discuss bilateral issues

Indian Army chief General MM Naravane and Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla discussed important bilateral issues with Myanmar’s state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi on October 5 in NayPyiTaw. Shringla and General Naravane handed over 3000 vials of Remdesivir, an antiviral medication, to Suu Kyi as a part of India’s contribution to help Myanmar fight against COVID-19.

Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement that India-Myanmar relations are historic, multifaceted and marked by mutual trust and respect. It stressed that India attaches high priority to its relationship with Myanmar in accordance with its “Neighborhood First” and “Act East” policies. re have been few direct exchanges between two sides due to pandemic situation.

“In recent times, both sides have strengned ir cooperation in several areas, including connectivity and tre, development projects, energy, capacity building, defence and security and culture and people to people links,” MEA said.

ministry furr ded that visit will provide an opportunity to take stock of existing bilateral ties and strengn cooperation in areas of mutual interest. two-day visit by Naravane and Shringla comes weeks before Myanmar elections, five years after last general elections which was marred with allegations of voter fraud and misuse of social media platforms. 

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Elections and human rights abuse

Facebook Inc has said that it is preparing for Myanmar’s 2020 election by improving its ability to remove hate speech and content that incites violence from its platform. Facebook anunced that it is working to reduce spre of harmful misinformation and removal of inauntic networks in Myanmar that seek to manipulate public opinion.

Suu Kyi has also been facing criticism over handling of Rohingya crisis as serious human rights violations, ackwledged by a government-appointed panel, forced lakhs of Rohingya Muslims to take refuge in camps in Banglesh. Independent Commission of Enquiry (ICOE), in a 461-p final report, ackwledged that war crimes, serious human rights violations, and violations of domestic law took place during security operations between August 25 - September 5, 2017.

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(Im: Twitter / IndiainMyanmar)