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Indo-Burma border news (r)



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<font size=3D5 color=3D"#808080"><b>Indo-Myanmar trade meet today<br>
<br>
</font><font size=3D3 color=3D"#000000">SHILLONG Jan 6 (UNI)<br>
<br>
</b>In a top secret affair, a 20 member Indian delegation headed by Union
commerce and industry minister Murasali Maran and a 16 member Myanmarese
team will hold bilateral talks here tomorrow.<br>
<br>
The delegation of both the countries which reached the state capital
today are to have discussions on insurgency and border trade between
them.<br>
<br>
According to an unconfirmed source, Maran was supposed to lead the India
side, but no information could be ascertained about the Myanmar
delegation.<br>
<br>
The design and details of the hurriedly convened high level meeting was
kept so secret by the Army's 101 area here that even top government
officials in Meghalaya pleaded ignorance about it.<br>
<br>
Meanwhile, an official source said Union power minister's P R
Kumaramangalam would arrive here tomorrow.<br>
<br>
However, the power minister's visit was not in line with tomorrow's
talks, the sources said.<br>
<br>
When contacted, a senior Army official said the meeting was not of a
secret nature but hastened to add that the matter was kept under wraps
due to security reasons.<br>
<br>
Army authorities further informed that the visiting delegation had no
plans and programmes to meet the state government officials and they
would leave for Guwahati as soon as the meeting with the Army authorities
was over.<br>
<br>
The high level parleys which were likely to continue till january 8 were
expected to sort out the stand off in border trade in Moreh in Manipur
since the past ten days, official sources said.<br>
<br>
The venue of the conference was turned into a high security zone under
the control of the Army.<br>
<br>
It may be recallled that India had sealed the border gates at Moreh on
the Indo-Myanmar border indefinitely following the erection of fencing
along the no-man's land late last month. The entire border trade in the
area had come to an abrupt halt since then.<br>
<br>
The possibility of export of power from India to Myanmar was also
understood to be on the agenda. The Indian delgation included officials
from the ministries of trade and commerce, power and external affairs,
among others, sources said.<br>
<br>
The Imphal Free Press<br>
Imphal January 2000 Friday<br>
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</font><font color=3D"#808080"><b>Army chief holds talks with Burmese
General<br>
<br>
</font><font color=3D"#000000">IMPHAL, Jan 6<br>
<br>
</b>The chief of army staff General VP Malik, visited Myanmar where he
met his Burmese counterpart to discuss bilateral issues concerning
security of both the countries before returning back to New Delhi.
General Malik had arrived yesterday here on his four day tour in the
North East.<br>
<br>
General Malik accompanied by Eastern Command Lt General HRS Kalkat and
other senior army officer left Imphal for Myanmar at 7am today, sources
here confirmed.<br>
<br>
Reliable sources said General Malik is visiting the neighbouring country
following an invitation by his Myanmarese counterpart. Details of the
visiting are not known.<br>
<br>
The army and the Assam Rifles here declined to divulge the details of the
army chief's programme of visiting Myanmar &quot;We are not told the
details of programme. The army chief visited Myanmar to mark a courtesy
call,&quot; the sources said.<br>
<br>
The state government officials also pleaded that they knew nothing about
the visit. The details of the talks between the two army chiefs of the
two countries could not be immediately known. Sources here believed that
cross border militancy came up for discusion during the meeting. <br>
<br>
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary, H Jelshyam has left for Guwahat by an evening
flight today to attend the Indo Myanmar Meeting to be held at Shillong
tomorrow.<br>
<br>
High ranking officials of the external affairs department will also
attend the meeting. However home ministry officials will not attend it.
The meeting will discuss details of the border disputes and the closure
of gate number 2 at Moreh which hampered trans border trade between the
two countries. </font>
<BR>

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