Swaraj to visit Myanmar to invite Suu Kyi

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj will travel to Nay Pyi Daw on Monday to invite the de facto head of Myanmar’s new government Aung San Suu Kyi for a visit to India.

This is going to be the first high-profile visit from India to Myanmar after a civilian government led by Suu Kyi’s National League of Democracy took office in Nay Pyi Daw earlier this year. She will call on President U Htin Kyaw in Nay Pyi Daw, apart from meeting Nobel laureate democracy icon Suu Kyi, who now holds the office of the state councillor and foreign minister of Myanmar.

The external affairs minister will be accompanied by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and other officials of the Ministry of External Affairs.

Sushma’s travel to Nay Pyi Daw comes days after Suu Kyi had a high-profile visit to China. The discussion between Sushma and Suu Kyi are expected to focus on New Delhi’s bilateral relations with Nay Pyi Daw, as well as plans for the upcoming BRICS-BIMSTEC Outreach Summit scheduled to be held in Goa, officials said in New Delhi.

“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. The visit re-affirms India’s commitment to heighten partnership with Myanmar in the areas of priority by the new government of Myanmar,” official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Vikas Swarup, said.