Burmese naval chief meets India’s military brass

Soe Thein later held discussions with top Indian Defence Ministry officials. He first had a one to one meeting with his Indian counterpart Admiral Sureesh Mehta and later was given a detailed briefing at the Indian Navy war room.

He also called on the Army Chief Gen J J Singh, new Air Force Chief Fali Homi Major and Defence Secretary Shekhar Dutt.

The Burmese Naval Chief is the third high ranking military junta leader to visit India in the past four months.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukerjhee and the Army Chief Gen J J Singh and former Air Chief S P Tyagi have already toured neighbouring Burma.

The high level Burmese military junta delegation after talks in New Delhi will visit Indian Naval Air arm facilities in Goa.

Indian Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash first visited Burma in 2003 and then again in January 2006. He presented a consignment of communication equipment to his counterparts. Controversy followed his visit because it reportedly discussed the sale of BN-2 Islander aircraft to Burma and that was objected to by Britain which originally supplied it to India.

Then British High Commissioner to India, Sir Michael Arthur issued a stern warning that if New Delhi went ahead with the sale, Britain would stop the supply of spares for Indian Navy's Islander aircraft. He added that Britain was bound by EU guidelines that no military dealings could be done with Burma either directly or through a third party.

India did not pay any heed and went on to supply the Burmese Navy two Islander surveillance aircraft for humanitarian and search and rescue missions.

In recent times there has been naval cooperation between India and Burma. Two Indian warships, INS Ranjit and ISN Kuthar were into joint naval maneuvers with the Burmese Navy in December 2005.

Indian warships' visiting Burma ports was the third, in the past three years. In December 2002, an Indian naval fleet, comprising a submarine and two destroyers, berthed at the Rangoon Port. Then in September 2003, two more Indian warships carried out four-day joint naval maneuvers with the Burmese Navy.

In exchange, a Burmese corvette was at Port Blair to take part in "Milan 2006." This was the first time in four decades that a Burmese ship visited a foreign port.

Sources: MIZZIMA