Date:21/11/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/11/21/stories/2007112162351400.htm

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India backs U.N. role in Myanmar

P. S. Suryanarayana

Broadbase reconciliation process, Manmohan Singh tells General Thein Sein

— Photo: PTI/ Manvender Vashist

CLEAR STAND: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh shakes hands with his Myanmarese counterpart Thein Sein in Singapore on Tuesday on the sidelines of the India-ASEAN meet.

SINGAPORE: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday informed his Myanmar counterpart Thein Sein of India’s position that the reconciliation process in his country should be “broadbased” and “carried forward expeditiously towards satisfactory conclusion.”

The process, it was emphasised, should “include” the celebrated democracy campaigner and Nobel Peace laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi, and Myanmar’s various ethnic nationalities.

Dr. Singh met General Sein soon after arriving here to participate in the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)-India summit and the East Asia Summit on Wednesday.

According to External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna, Dr. Singh conveyed India’s support for the efforts of United Nations Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari, on “behalf of the international community.” This was to facilitate reconciliation in Myanmar, he said.

The meeting lasted about half an hour, and Gen. Sein briefed Dr. Singh on the current developments in Myanmar. Dr. Singh’s meeting with his Myanmar counterpart was seen in the ASEAN circles as an important sign of India’s relevance to the evolving political scenario in that country.

India’s renewed accent on the centrality of the U.N.’s good offices acquired new salience in the context of the ASEAN’s latest move to steer clear of the current Myanmar crisis and let the junta “deal directly with the U.N.”

Dr. Singh’s meeting with Gen. Sein was also seen here in the context of the ASEAN’s insistence that China and India should seek to influence the thinking of the Myanmar junta.