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Burma's military strongman number two visits Bangladesh |
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by Mungpi
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Tuesday, 07 October 2008 21:50 |
New Delhi - Strongman number two in the Burmese military junta's hierarchy, Vice Snr. General Maung Aye arrived in Dhaka on a three-day official visit on Tuesday.
The Burmese delegation led by Maung Aye will hold talks with senior Bangladesh officials on wide ranging issues including a road link between the two countries, the maritime boundary dispute, and Bangladesh's request to lease land in Burma's western Arakan state, the Bangladesh Foreign Ministry has stated.
Maung Aye, leading a delegation comprising seven cabinet ministers, on Tuesday held talks with Chief Adviser of the Bangladesh's interim government Fakhruddin Ahmed, who laid out a red-carpet welcome.
According to a Bangladesh's Foreign Ministry statement on Monday, maritime boundaries and a 25 kilometre cross-border road, are likely to top the agenda during talks. Maung Aye will also hold separate meetings with his counterpart.
"This symbolic visit will also have substantive components (and) our talks will cover the total gamut of our political and economic relations," Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury said in a statement on Monday.
According to a Bangladesh based Burmese news agency, Kaladan Press Network (KPN), Bangladesh is keen on resolving the dispute over the maritime boundary with its neighbour Burma as it wants to explore the Bay of Bengal for natural gas reserves.
Bangladesh wants to finalise the 25-kilometre road-link for which the two countries signed an agreement in July 2007.
"Bangladesh views the road link as vital, because this will give them a gateway to connect to China as well as Southeast Asian countries," Tin Soe, Assistant Editor of the KPN said.
The U.S dollar 20 million "Friendship Road", which will commence from Gundhum in Cox's Bazaar of Bangladesh to Baulibazaar in Burma, is designed to connect China's Kunming under a tri-nation road connectivity that will give Bangladesh access to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore and to the Asian Highway.
"Bangladesh has been pushing hard to ensure the road link, but Burma seems to be reluctant though we do not yet know what the result of this visit will be," Tin Soe said.
Tin Soe said the Burmese junta does not view its relationship with Bangladesh as a priority though it does definitely want its support internationally.
"So, I think the junta will take some time to finaiise the agreements," he added.
Besides the officially announced agenda, Tin Soe said, it is likely the talks will include the repatriation of Rohingya refugees who are sheltered along the Bangladeshi-Burmese border.
Bangladesh currently hosts over 200,000 Rohingya minorities from Burma's Arakan state, who fled the country due to repression. Bangladesh has been holding discussions with the Burmese government to send them back.
With Burma's military junta seeking regional support against international condemnation over the country's human rights situation, Maung Aye's visit to Dhaka marks a cosying up in relations between the two countries.
The two countries in recent years have maintained high-level visits. In December 2002, Burma's military supremo Senior-General Than Shwe visited Dhaka, while in 2003, Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia visited Rangoon, the then capital of Burma. In September 2005, Burma's military strongman number three General Thura Shwe Mann toured Bangladesh.
The two countries in 2003 signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) on setting up of a joint trade commission and an agreement on coastal and maritime shipping.
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