New Delhi , April 2
Quietly but steadily, India is embarking on a policy of strengthening defence cooperation and ties with its smaller eastern neighbours. A high-powered Burmese military delegation is likely to visit the country next week and meet top officials of the ministry of defence.
Sources said that cooperation between the two countries in tackling insurgency groups in the Northeast will probably be high on the agenda. India has been anxious to seek the cooperation of the ruling Burmese military junta in tackling members of northeastern militant groups who often cross the border and slip into Burma to evade the Indian security forces. In the past few years, India has made conscious efforts to strengthen defence ties with Burma which has always been considered as politically close to China.
“Myanmar (Burma), which is located at the tri-junction of south and Southeast Asia holds importance for India in security terms ... Cooperation in security matters is also being enhanced,” the recently-released MoD’s annual defence report states.
India had also recently received the chief of Bangladesh’s Army on a week-long visit in an effort to build more trust and co-operation between the armies of the two countries.
Similarly, India had recently hosted a visit by the chief of the Nepalese Army in an effort to foster closer ties between the Indian and Nepalese armies.
Just on Thursday, India’s new Army Chief Gen. V.K. Singh spoke about the need for renewed focus on the strategic eastern sector.
fellow countrymen.
