President Joko Widodo highlighted that Indonesia, as the 2023 chair of ASEAN, has conducted more than 145 engagements with as many as 70 relevant stakeholders in Myanmar….reports Asian Lite News
Jakarta has found public distrust towards the ruling military junta based on intensive engagements with the relevant stakeholders in Myanmar, said Indonesian President Joko Widodo (Jokowi).
He highlighted that Indonesia, as the 2023 chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), has conducted more than 145 engagements with as many as 70 relevant stakeholders in Myanmar, a member country of ASEAN, ANTARA news agency reported.
“… and Indonesia has witnessed developing trust among one stakeholder and another, except the military junta,” the President observed in his opening speech at the retreat session of the 43rd ASEAN Summit in Jakarta.
Indonesia is leading the regional bloc this year and has adopted “ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth” as the theme of its chairmanship. The engagements it has conducted with Myanmar have demonstrated its commitment, as the ASEAN chair, to maintaining Southeast Asia as a peaceful and stable growth centre, it was reported.
In his speech, President Widodo called on ASEAN to continue to push Myanmar to carry out inclusive national dialogue as a concrete implementation of the “Myanmar-owned and Myanmar-led crisis settlement mechanism.”
During its chairmanship, Indonesia has approached various parties in Myanmar, including the National Unity Government (NUG), which is a shadow government formed by the opposition junta, the State Administrative Council (SAC) formed by the military, ethnic resistance organizations (EROs), and civil society in Myanmar, to pave the way towards inclusive dialogue.
Inclusive dialogue is part of the Five-Point Consensus (5PC) agreed upon by ASEAN leaders and the chief of the Burmese military junta, Min Aung Hlaing, which aims to assist in resolving the ongoing political and economic crises sparked by the junta’s coup against the elected government.
However, since its formulation in April 2021, the consensus has not been genuinely implemented to put an end to the ongoing crises on account of the junta’s unwillingness to do so.
For that reason, ASEAN leaders are planning to make the most of the 43rd summit to review the implementation of the consensus, at the recommendation of their foreign affairs ministers.
For the sake of ASEAN interests, as one family, ASEAN must be bold to evaluate itself, openly discuss problems, and collectively find solutions to the crises plaguing Myanmar, Widodo said.
He then emphasized that it will require tactical and extraordinary measures on the part of ASEAN to push all Burmese stakeholders, including the military junta, to genuinely implement the Five-Point Consensus.
“Regarding the 5PC implementation, I would like to reiterate that the 5PC constitutes ASEAN’s collective effort, as a family. The 5PC, agreed upon by ASEAN leaders in Jakarta on April 21, 2021, will serve as ASEAN’s main guidelines,” he affirmed, it was reported.
ASEAN assessed that there is no will from Myanmar’s junta to implement the consensus….reports Asian Lite News
Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno Marsudi has underscored Indonesia’s diligent efforts during its ASEAN chairmanship this year to foster unity within ASEAN for addressing the Myanmar situation.
“ASEAN can only steam forward in full power if we can ensure a peaceful and lasting solution in Myanmar,” ANTARA quoted Minister Marsudi as saying while opening the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (AMM) on Monday.
Indonesia is holding the ASEAN chairmanship in 2023 with the theme of “ASEAN Matters: Epicentrum of Growth.” The vision of Indonesia’s chairmanship, among others, is to build a resilient, adaptive, and inclusive ASEAN.
Marsudi noted that as mandated by ASEAN leaders, the foreign ministers would conduct a comprehensive review of the Five Point Consensus (5PC) implementation and prepare a recommendation for the leaders’ deliberation.
The 5PC, among others, calls for an immediate end to violence and the provision of humanitarian assistance to Myanmar.
Since it was agreed upon in April 2021 by ASEAN leaders and the leader of Myanmar’s junta, Min Aung Hlaing, the implementation of the consensus, as a peace plan for resolving the Myanmar crisis, has not made significant progress.
ASEAN assessed that there is no will from Myanmar’s junta to implement the consensus.
During its chairmanship, Indonesia has carried out more than 110 engagements with various parties in Myanmar, including with the National Unity Government (NUG), the State Administration Council, ethnic resistance organizations (EROs), and civil society, to pave the way to inclusive dialogues.
Those efforts were carried out by still referring to the 5PC as the main reference for ASEAN in handling the crisis in Myanmar.
“5PC is the main reference, and the implementation of 5PC should remain the focus of ASEAN,” Marsudi stated during the previous AMM last July.
The minister’s emphasis regarding the implementation of 5PC came after Thailand held a meeting in June in which representatives of Myanmar’s junta were invited.
Thailand justified the meeting by saying that dialogue with the junta was necessary to protect its country that shares a long border with Myanmar.
The junta has been excluded from various ASEAN meetings, as they violated the consensus and continued to commit acts of violence against their people.
The crisis in Myanmar was caused by the coup d’état by the military on February 1, 2021. Since then, the country has faced a political and security crisis that killed thousands of people.
Heavy rains also caused landslides in Kayin State, resulting in the collapse of a section of the Myawaddy-Kawkareik Asia Road on Monday….reports Asian Lite News
Myanmar’s Department of Disaster Management said that more than 45,000 people were currently in relief shelters across the country due to floods triggered by surging river levels amid intense rainfall.
A Department official told Xinhuanews agency on Friday that five people, including three from Mon State and two from Rakhine State, have died.
The regions and states affected by the natural disasters during the monsoon season included Kachin, Kayin, Bago, Magway, Mon and Rakhine, she said.
The Department has established 109 shelters throughout the country to aid flood victims.
The majority of the shelters are located in Mon, Kayin and Rakhine states as well as in Bago Region, it said.
Rakhine has already evacuated more than 10,000 people from 2,146 households to shelters due to flooding and rising river levels, state media reported.
In Kayin, six out of seven townships have been inundated, leading to the relocation of over 18,000 residents from their homes to shelters.
Heavy rains also caused landslides in Kayin State, resulting in the collapse of a section of the Myawaddy-Kawkareik Asia Road on Monday.
The incident obstructed transportation on the route, rendering it impassable for vehicles.
Furthermore, parts of a crucial road connecting Kayin State’s capital Hpa-an and Mon’s capital Mawlamyine were also inundated on Thursday, local media reported.
Additionally, flooding forced the closure of 12 primary schools in Kyaikmaraw township in Mon.
In Bago Region, 12,461 people from 2,973 households were forced to relocate to shelters as continuous heavy rains caused severe flooding.
A resident of Bago, told Xinhua on Friday that “the ground floor of my house remained submerged, with water reaching chest height in my yard”.
U Hla Tun, a director from the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, told Xinhua on Friday: “Rainfalls were high in recent days. The recent heavy rainfall is one of the reasons that caused rivers overflowing.”
The weather department reported that the water levels of several rivers, including Sittaung, Bago and Thanlwin rivers, remained above their danger levels on Thursday afternoon.
It also issued a warning for residents living near riverbanks or low-lying areas in Bago Region’s Madauk town and Bago township, Kayin’s Hpa-an township to remain vigilant about potential flood risks.
According to the weather agency’s latest 10-day forecast issued on Friday, river levels in various parts of the country, including the Ayeyarwady and Chindwin, are expected to rise until August 20.
Myanmar's Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Services Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing. (Xinhua_U Aung_IANS)
Since the military coup, the state of emergency has been extended three times, each for six months, with Monday’s extension marking the fourth….reports Asian Lite News
Members of Myanmar’s National Defence and Security Council (NDSC) on Monday decided to extend the state of emergency in the country and the term of the junta led by Min Aung Hlaing for another six months, Myanmar Now reported citing an announcement broadcast by state-run media.
The decision was taken during Myanmar’s National Defence and Security Council (NDSC) meeting in Naypyidaw on Monday.
As the term of the Myanmar junta led by Min Aung Hlaing expired on Monday, the junta chief presented a report to council members sharing details regarding two-and-half years of military rule as is needed by the army-drafted 2008 Constitution. He stressed that there was still “unrest” in Myanmar.
Notably, the Myanmar military declared a year-long state of emergency when it seized power. Since then, the state of emergency has been extended three times, each for six months, with Monday’s extension marking the fourth, Myanmar Now reported.
The military-drafted constitution permits only two six-month extensions and it requires authorities to hold elections within six months of a state of emergency being lifted. On July 14, during his meeting with senior officials, Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing indicated that he might further extend a state of emergency and delay promised elections, Myanmar Now reported.
According to the military-drafted Constitution, the NDSC body is prescribed to include the president, two vice presidents, two house speakers, the commander-in-chief and his deputy, and the ministers of foreign affairs, defence, home affairs and border affairs. Following the coup, Vice President Myint Swe was appointed Myanmar’s acting President and leads the NDSC.
On Monday, Myint Swe announced the continuation of the state of emergency in Myanmar for a further six months and transferred the power to military chief Min Aung Hlaing. He said that the detailed statement by the NDSC will be issued later, according to Myanmar Now report.
Another Vice President Henry Van Thio has not been in the public eye since the army’s seizure of power. Citing “health issues,” he did not attend three previous NDSC meetings, Myanmar Now reported. Henry Van Thio reportedly attended the meeting on Monday and was seen sitting next to Lower House speaker T Khun Myat in video footage of the event.
In November 2020, the National League for Democracy (NLD) secured victory in Myanmar’s parliamentary elections. However, less than three months later, the Myanmar military carried out a coup and imprisoned Aung San Suu Kyi. Currently, she is serving a prison sentence which totals 33 years. (ANI)
Media reports said Suu Kyi had been transferred to a residence for deputy ministers in the capital on July 24.
Myanmar’s junta has relocated former leader Aung San Suu Kyi from a prison in the capital Naypyidaw to “a more comfortable state-owned residence,” a party official and a source with ties to the prison was cited by a report in Radio Free Asia (RFA).
An NLD official who declined to be named due to security concerns told RFA Burmese: “It has been confirmed that Aung San Suu Kyi has been placed in a house in a residential area of Naypyidaw.”
A source with connections to Naypyidaw Prison, where the jailed head of the deposed National League for Democracy Suu Kyi had been held since the military seized power in a February 1, 2021 coup d’etat, also confirmed that the former State Counselor had been “relocated”.
Both sources could only confirm that the move had taken place “recently,” but were unable to confirm the exact date or location.
Media reports said Suu Kyi had been transferred to a residence for deputy ministers in the capital on July 24. Attempts by RFA to contact junta Deputy Information Minister Major General Zaw Min Tun for comment went unanswered on Friday.
Protesters holds placards and portraits of Aung San Suu Kyi during a protest. (Photo Aung Kyaw Htet_SOPA Images via ZUMA Wire_dpa_IANS)
The 78-year-old Suu Kyi who was found guilty by junta courts of corruption charges and violation of election and state secrets laws, faces a total of 33 years in jail for 19 cases and had been held in solitary confinement in Naypyidaw. Suu Kyi’s supporters say the charges were politically motivated.
A second NLD official suggested to RFA on Friday that the transfer may have been made in response to increased domestic and international pressure on the junta to end Myanmar’s political stalemate.
“The junta has let the world know through this transfer that it is also facing difficulties in resolving the turmoil in Myanmar,” the official said, as per RFA.
Myanmar’s junta has been involved in a prolonged conflict with Myanmar’s increasingly formidable armed resistance groups and ethnic armed organizations since the military detained Suu Kyi and other top leaders of the NLD during the coup. (ANI)
The anti-China sentiment in Myanmar is strong as armed militias opposed to the military rule have been targeting Chinese projects….reports Asian Lite News
Chinese power companies are shutting down operations in Myanmar due to financial problems faced by the ostracised Myanmar military junta which is unable to pay dues to the power companies.
The Myanmar military, also called Tatmadaw, which seized power from the democratically elected government of President Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021 faces a stringent global boycott. It also faces a drain on its resources as it continues to fight the People’s Defence Force (PDF) – a coalition of pro-democracy forces.
A report in The Irrawaddy says that three of the four China-backed liquefied natural gas (LNG) power plants in the strategically located Kyaukphyu township in western Myanmar have stopped work. The third power plant came to a stop recently after working intermittently since 2022.
Two power plants, which had stopped operations last year, have been dismantled and removed. All three were operated by a Hong Kong-listed power generation company – VPower, which continues to operate other plants in Myanmar.
The company’s fortunes fell after the military coup. The financial and economic woes that followed the coup include a banking crisis, shortage of funds with the power ministry and the decline in Myanmar’s currency Kyat against the US dollar.
Now these problems are hitting the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC).
The South-East Asian country’s power ministry says that it can pay the Chinese power companies only in Kyats while power purchase agreements had mentioned dollar payments. VPower had signed the agreements with Suu Kyi’s government – the National League for Democracy (NLD) as far back as 2015.
Myanmar’s Kyaukphyu is located in Rakhine state bordering both India and Bangladesh. Kyaukphyu looks into the Bay of Bengal, making it an important port for China to pledge big investments to Naypyitaw – power plants and special economic zones along with plans to establish trade networks with Europe and the Gulf countries through an alternate route to the Strait of Malacca.
Even though China has been pushing its mega infrastructure projects in a big way in Asia, it also faces backlash from local communities as well as declining profits. The anti-China sentiment in Myanmar is strong as armed militias opposed to the military rule have been targeting Chinese projects. The local Myanmar people consider China as an enemy for helping prop up the junta regime.
Chinese power companies are facing similar problems in Pakistan as well.
In Pakistan issues include terror attacks on Chinese hydro-power projects in Pakistan’s northern provinces as well as non-payment of dues by Islamabad. Other problems include Pakistan’s incapacity to import coal for the power plants after which Chinese producers have cut down on power generation and told Islamabad that they consider the government a defaulter.
Will reduced power generation in the deep-sea port of Kyaukphyu put a speed-breaker on China’s dreams of developing a major trade way into the Indian Ocean from Myanmar? Will it also impact its plans of bypassing the Strait of Malacca and take the sheen off the ambitious Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects in an unstable and violence-prone Myanmar?
Beijing: Photo taken on May 21, 2020 shows red flags on the Tian’anmen Square in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Cai Yang/IANS)
China’s economy losing steam
With worsening economic imbalances, China’s economy continues to lose momentum. China’s retail sales in June fell to 3.1 per cent from a 12.7 per cent increase in May, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) report, Khabar Hub reported.
Disappointing June data, including low retail sales, falling export orders and slow industrial production indicate stalled economic recovery the report from the Nepal digital news outlet said. Though industrial output growth quickened to 4.4 per cent in June from 3.5 per cent in May, the demand remained tepid. Even though investment by state-owned enterprises grew by 8.1 per cent in the first six months of 2023, private fixed-asset investment shrank by 0.2 per cent, indicating weak private business confidence, Khabar Hub reported.
China’s exports fell by 12.4 per cent in June, the highest drop in three years, while imports fell by 6.8 per cent.
China’s foreign trade is likely to face more headwinds in the second half of the year, due to high inflation in developed countries and geopolitical situation.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows also dropped by 5.6 per cent in the first five months of the year, Khabar Hub reported.
The perception that “doing business in China has become much riskier” is choking the flow of capital into the country.
Xi Jinping’s policy to rebalance the economy away from debt-driven investment towards domestic consumption has not been successful due to the inability of the leadership to expand social welfare and health care provisions, leading to high levels of precautionary savings.
China’s equity market has been underperforming compared to other global markets this year, suggesting that weak growth prospects and lack of policy stimulus have already been fully priced, Khabar Hub reported.
Chinese stocks have fallen more than 20 per cent from their peak in late January.
China’s IPO applications slumped by a third in the first half of 2023, as volatility in earnings, a slowing economy and tighter regulatory scrutiny deterred companies.
The zero rate of inflation in June and falling factory-gate prices have fueled concerns about the risk of deflation, Khabar Hub reported.
Domestic travel spending during the June holiday this year for the dragon-boat festival was lower than pre-pandemic levels.
Car sales and residential real estate sales declined despite the traditionally busy season.
Expansion in the services industry has slowed as well. The revenue of the service sector, which is dominated by small, midsized and individual businesses, has fallen substantially.
This has made this sector cautious about hiring and expansion since the removal of zero-Covid restrictions, Khabar Hub reported.
If the economy continues to lose momentum in the long term, the unemployment problem is likely to get more serious, which would challenge the social stability in the country.
Xi Jinping’s emphasis on state-owned enterprises at the expense of the private sector is unlikely to revitalise economic growth as the productivity of these corporations is much lower than that of private firms in China.
Xi Jinping’s policy to rebalance the economy away from debt-driven investment towards domestic consumption has not been successful due to the inability of the leadership to expand social welfare and health care provisions, leading to high levels of precautionary savings.
Due to the pessimism among the population regarding the state of the economy, domestic consumption has remained weak.
Local governments are themselves under financing pressure.
They had come to rely on land sales for revenue, but that source of revenue is also drying up due to the housing downturn, Khabar Hub reported.
The Chinese economy is likely to face an extended period of weak growth due to the loss of demographic dividend, pushing away from capital-intensive growth, and a gradual deceleration in productivity growth.
The government’s ‘Common Prosperity’ policy and efforts to increase consumption are not backed by structural economic reforms, which have been stalled due to the high total debt of the country, estimated at around 350 per cent of GDP, Khabar Hub reported.
It is becoming more difficult for the Xi Jinping-led government to find a solution to the slowing economy. (ANI)
More than 3,400 people have been killed and almost 22,000 arrested in the military’s crackdown on dissent, according to a United Nations report published in June…reports Asian Lite News
Southeast Asia’s top diplomats will gather in Indonesia on Tuesday amid pressure to address a bloody political crisis in Myanmar and resolve tensions in the South China Sea where some ASEAN members have overlapping territorial claims with China.
The meeting of foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) comes as doubts mount over the credibility and unity of the bloc in dealing with the region’s thorniest challenges.
Chief among them is the lack of meaningful process on an ASEAN peace plan for Myanmar, which was agreed with the country’s military rulers after they seized power in a 2021 coup and calls for an immediate halt to violence.
More than 3,400 people have been killed and almost 22,000 arrested in the military’s crackdown on dissent, according to a United Nations report published in June.
United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk recently urged the U.N. Security Council to refer the escalating violence to the International Criminal Court, and for countries to stop supplying weapons to the junta.
ASEAN has barred Myanmar’s junta leaders from attending high-level meetings like the one in Jakarta this week, but as the bloc’s chair this year, Indonesia has been intensely engaging the junta and opposition groups behind the scenes.
But two sources familiar with the efforts say attempts to create an inclusive dialogue have been complicated by conditions put forward by all sides to start even informal talks.
“As long as the approach that the parties take is a zero-sum approach, durable peace will never be achieved,” Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said of the efforts last week.
Indonesia is also seeking during this week’s forum to accelerate talks on a long-stalled code of conduct on the South China Sea. The talks would advance a 2002 commitment by the bloc and China to create a set of rules to ensure freedom of navigation and overflight in the strategic waterway.
More than $3 trillion in trade passes through the South China Sea each year, and overlapping territorial claims by China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei have led to a spate of confrontations.
ASEAN will also hold the East Asia Summit and the ASEAN Regional Forum later this week, with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov both slated to attend.
The highway will span from Moreh in Manipur, India to Mae Sot in Thailand through Myanmar….reports Asian Lite News
Union Minister Nitin Gadkari has revealed that approximately 70 percent of the construction work on the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway has been finished.
This ambitious project aims to establish a 1,400-kilometer-long highway connecting the three countries, bolstering trade, business, healthcare, education, and tourism ties in the region.
The highway will span from Moreh in Manipur, India to Mae Sot in Thailand through Myanmar.
While the minister did not disclose a specific timeline for completion, the project has faced delays as the initial target of December 2019 for operationalization could not be met.
The road is expected to boost trade and commerce in the ASEAN–India Free Trade Area, as well as with the rest of Southeast Asia. India has also proposed extending the highway to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
The proposed approx 3,200 km (2,000 mi) route from India to Vietnam is known as the East-West Economic Corridor (Thailand to Cambodia and Vietnam became operational in 2015).[4] This highway will also connect to the river ports being developed along the way at Kalay (also called Kalaymyo) and Monywa on Chindwin River.
India and ASEAN have plans to extend this route to Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam as this connectivity will generate annually, an estimated US$70 billion in incremental GDP and 20 million in incremental aggregate employment by 2025, and India has offered US$1 billion line-of-credit for the India-ASEAN connectivity projects.
In December 2020, Bangladesh expressed official interest to join the highway project in order to boost connectivity from Dhaka. The existing BBIN motor vehicle agreement facilitates reduced border controls and customs inspection for freight transport between India and Bangladesh.
The issue was discussed during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Dhaka in 2021 as both India and Bangladesh decided to remain engaged with Myanmar notwithstanding its internal political dynamics. The project will provide Bangladesh direct connectivity with the south east Asian nations which is expected to boost its trade.
The trilateral project, conceived in 2002, is a 1360 km transnational highway connecting Moreh in India, Bagan in Myanmar and Mae Sot in Thailand. Though there have been delays in execution, the project, that is expected to boost trade and people to people connectivity besides other things, is likely to be completed in the next couple of years.
Sources said that the trilateral highway could feed into a much larger undertaking, in the end, connecting landlocked Bhutan with Da Nang in Vietnam.
The key to this massive undertaking is the 19.2 kilometer Dhubri-Phulbari bridge over the Brahmaputra. the gigantic effort will merge two parallel initiatives – the trilateral high New Delhi-led India-Myanmar- Thailand trilateral highway and the East-West, Economic Corridor (EWEC) marshalled by Japan in partnership with Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. The joint foray is a fusion of India’s ‘Act East’ policy and Japan’s ‘Free and Open Indo-Pacific’ strategy.
With Mae Sot as the junction, the 1,450-km EWEC route passes through Thailand’s Province of the Mukhandan – the gateway to Laos, which is connected by the 1.6 km-long Second Thai-Lao friendship bridge over the Mekong, built with Japanese assistance. From Savannakhet in Laos, the next stop in the corridor, the passage heads east towards Da Nang, 486 km away. On the way, the Japanese have also been involved in constructing the 6.28-km Hai Van tunnel, the longest in Southeast Asia, which links Hue, a city in Central Vietnam, with Da Nang. (with inputs from agencies)
In response, Myanmar security forces retaliated against the attackers…reports Asian Lite News
The Myanmar military junta has accused an armed ethnic group of launching an attack on a vehicle convoy carrying Chinese military personnel, who were en route to a meeting on border security. However, the rebels have denied these allegations.
The incident took place on Tuesday, when a vehicle convoy consisting of Chinese military representatives and their Myanmar counterparts was fired upon while traveling to Myitkyina in northern Kachin state. According to the junta, the second vehicle in the convoy was hit by gunfire five times.
In response, Myanmar security forces retaliated against the attackers. Junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun confirmed in an audio message that members of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) were responsible for the assault. The junta claimed that no casualties or injuries were reported during the incident.
Contradicting the junta’s accusations, KIA Colonel Naw Bu refuted any involvement in the attack. He stated that the KIA did not target any convoy, mentioning that intense clashes had been taking place in the area near where the incident occurred since Monday.
The incident highlights the ongoing tensions and conflicts within Myanmar, involving various armed ethnic groups and the military junta, as they vie for control and power in the country.
Recently, India’s Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane paid an official visit to Myanmar, holding discussions on matters related to illegal trans-border movements and transnational crimes, the Ministry of Defence stated.
Issues like maintenance of tranquillity in the border areas, and India’s security were also discussed during the visit, and the two sides reaffirmed their commitments towards their respective territories. During his visit, Aramane called on the Chairman of the State Administrative Council, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, in Nay Pyi Taw. He also called on the Defence Minister of Myanmar Gen (Retd.) Mya Tun Oo and held meetings with Commander-in-Chief, Myanmar Navy, Admiral Moe Aung and Chief of Defence Industries Lt Gen Khan Myint Than.
The visit came as an opportunity for the Defence secretary to raise matters pertaining to India’s security interests with the senior leadership of Myanmar.
During the meetings, the two sides discussed issues related to the maintenance of tranquillity in the border areas, illegal trans-border movements and transnational crimes such as drug trafficking and smuggling.
Both sides also reaffirmed their commitment to ensure that their respective territories would not be allowed to be used for any activities inimical to the other.
India shares an approximately 1,700-km-long border with Myanmar. Any developments in that country have a direct impact on India’s bordering regions.
Peace and stability in Myanmar and the well-being of its people, therefore, remain of utmost importance to India, the ministry stated. (with inputs from agencies)
The training is part of the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme…reports Asian Lite News
In line with the objective of assisting with capacity building in neighbouring countries, India’s largest power generation company National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has been conducting a series of training programmes for power sector professionals from Myanmar.
These programmes are being conducted under the India-Myanmar Government to Government framework for cooperation in the Power Sector, as part of the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) Programme, the leading capacity building platform of India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
Out of the five programme scheduled during 2023, four have already been completed while the fifth began on Monday (June 19, 2023). “All four of them received a very good response from the power sector professionals of Myanmar,” the Ministry of Power said.
The four earlier programmes have been on Smart Grids; Cross Border Energy Trading; Electric Vehicles, Batteries and Charging Stations; and Microgrids. The first two were conducted in March – April 2023 and the latter two in June 2023.
The last programme in the series is on ‘Solar Energy & Photovoltaic (PV) System’. According to the Ministry of Power, the programme aims to equip participants with comprehensive knowledge on Solar PV Projects, including technical components, economics, cost-benefit analysis, policy frameworks, project design, implementation, and associated challenges.
“The collaboration between India and Myanmar under the ITEC Programme shows the commitment of both nations to strengthen bilateral relations and promote knowledge exchange in the power sector,” the Ministry of Power said. The training programmes conducted by NTPC under the auspices of the ITEC demonstrate the company’s dedication to sharing expertise and best practices to promote sustainable and clean energy solutions. (India News Network)
