More Indian Construction Companies Move into Burma
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India to develop Myanmar port
16 January 2008: (Indiatimes) - NEW DELHI, India will sign an agreement with Myanmar in April to develop a port there, in a move signalling growing cooperation between the two neighbours.
"A formal agreement to develop Sittwe port
in Myanmar will be signed
when a high-level Myanmarese delegation visits India in April," Minister of
State for Commerce Jairam Ramesh said at a seminar on Tuesday.
The port will provide a gateway for the
North-eastern states to the rest of the world, he said.
"India proposes to build the port,
make the Kaladan river navigable up to the Mizoram border, and then provide
highway connectivity within Mizoram," Ramesh said.
Bilateral trade between the two neighbours is
nearly $1 billion and both the countries are keen to enhance it, especially
through border trade points along their 1,600 km long border.
Myanmar is facing isolation by the international community
over the human rights record of its military rulers and India also
favours ushering of political reforms by its eastern neighbour.
India has been supportive of the efforts of UN Special
Envoy Ibrahim Gambari towards ushering in of democracy in Myanmar.