Mizzima: High-level meet between In

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High-level meet between India and Burma on Monday

Imphal, August 26, 2000
Mizzima News Group (www.mizzima.com)

The Seventh National Level talk between India and Burma on bi-lateral
issues will be held on Monday, 28th August in Rangoon, according to
sources from Indian Home Ministry.

Mr. Kamal Pande, Home Secretary of India will lead Indian delegation
while Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Brig. Gen. Thura Myint Maung will
lead the Burmese delegation.

During the four-day talks, the discussions are slated to be centered
around the issues such as effective border management and cooperation
between the two countries, strengthening of infrastructure and security
to facilitate border trade and the boundary issues.

India and Burma signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in January
1994 to regularize and promote informal trade across the border and to
crack down on illegal and negative cross-border activities through
regular meetings and intelligence exchange. Since then, high-level
regular meetings have been held between the two countries to increase
the cooperation on the matters of concern for both countries.

The last meeting of Sixth National level meeting was held in New Delhi
in July last year and the two countries had then agreed to facilitate
greater bilateral trade across the existing trade points and decided to
take strict measures to check illegal drug trafficking across the 1,643
kilometer (1,018 mile)-long Indo-Burma border.

The border trade, which was operationalized in April 1995, is currently
mainly conducted through Tamu-Moreh route and another trade route
Rid-Zokhutha (Chin State of Burma and Mizoram State of India) is to be
operationalized soon. Some other routes in Manipur and Nagaland States
of India are also in the suggestion to be looked into.