Eye on N-E, red carpet for Myanmar General

These proposed agreements were handed over by Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran during his visit to Yangon this month.

The Government, which has already instructed the security forces to go after the PLA in Manipur and ULFA in Assam, expects Myanmar to do its bit by taking action against insurgent camps across the 1,643 km long Indo-Myanmar border.

Official sources said the Government hopes there’s a repeat of the 1996 Operation Golden Bird, the last Indo-Myanmar anti-militancy drive. In February 2000, the Myanmar Army cracked down on NSCN (K) and ULFA camps on its territory.

Sources said that Than Shwe will be welcomed with a gun salute, accorded to a head of state, in the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhawan on October 25. It will be followed by delegation level talks and a lunch hosted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the Hyderabad House. President A P J Abdul Kalam will host a banquet in the General’s honour the same evening.

On October 26, the Myanmar head will fly to Bangalore to get an idea of the Information Technology industry. A visit to the HAL establishment is also in the offing, given Yangon’s interest in Indian military hardware, especially the Advanced Light Helicopter. The next day, he will visit Kolkata before returning to Yangon.