NEW DELHI, July 26 (UPI) -- Myanmar's junta chief has begun a 5-day "religious" visit to India, the first trip to the subcontinent for Senior Gen. Than Shwe since 2004.
Myanmar government officials in Naypyitaw said Shwe is a guest of Indian President Pratibha Patil. He will also meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
The officials didn't explain the "religious" nature of the visit but said Shwe will also have discussions on economic cooperation and security concerns along Myanmar's 900-mile frontier with India.
Shwe also is to visit the city of Hyderabad for information technology and pharmaceutical factory tours, two sectors for which Myanmar is looking for development assistance.
On the economic front, Indian oil and gas companies are concerned about their lack of access to natural gas in Myanmar's Arakan province.
"That is why we invested in some of the blocs there. But all the Arakan gas is now going to China," Ashok Das, a retired official of the state-sponsored Oil India company, said.
Shwe heads the military's governing State Peace and Development Council, but the country is going to the polls on an as yet unspecified date later this year for the first time in 20 years.
Myanmar, formerly called Burma, was a British colony with close economic ties to India prior to independence in 1948 but has been under military rule since 1962. Good relations with Myanmar are seen by successive governments in New Delhi as an important counterbalance to a growing Chinese influence, both military and economic, in Southeast Asia.
Myanmar, formerly called Burma, was a British colony with close economic ties to India prior to independence in 1948 but has been under military rule since 1962. Good relations with Myanmar are seen by successive governments in New Delhi as an important counterbalance to a growing Chinese influence, both military and economic, in Southeast Asia.
UPI
