India today announced a $57 million line of credit to Myanmar which gave an assurance that it would not allow its territory to be used for anti-India activities and agreed to explore ways of joint effort to make the border peaceful. During wide-ranging talks Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat had with top Myanmarese leader and senior General Than Shwe, Yangon shared concern on terrorism and the insurgency problem in India’s Northeast. ‘‘No anti-India activity on Myanmar soil will be allowed or accepted,’’ the senior general, who is chairman of the ruling State Peace Development Council, told Shekhawat who arrived here yesterday on a five-day visit. Chadar at Zafar’s grave YANGON: Shekhawat on Monday laid a chadar, brought from Ajmer Sharif, at the grave of last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, who died heartbroken in exile in the then British-ruled Burma. Shekhawat visited the grave which bears the inscription ‘‘Emperor of India, 1837-1857’’. Zafar, whose poem Lagta nahi hai dil mera ugre dayar mein (My heart is for long in this wilderness) has haunted generations of Indians, is regarded by Myanmar Muslims as a wali (saint). (PTI) The line of credit would be used for improving Yangon-Mandalay railway line. It was also decided to hold ministerial-level talks in New Delhi on the proposed India-Myanmar-Thailand road project. Yangon also agreed to allow an India-Hanoi car rally mooted by Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee last month to enhance people-to-people contacts with ten-nation ASEAN to pass through its territory. The two sides discussed in detail the insurgency problem in the Northeast which was hampering growth of trade across the border. ‘‘We will discuss how joint efforts can be intensified to make India-Myanmar border peaceful,’’ Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal, who is accompanying the Vice-President, said. He said both sides voiced satisfaction over the talks and saw ‘‘prospects of further improvement in bilateral ties’’. The Myanmarese leadership briefed Shekhawat on the internal political and economic situation in the country and its seven-point road map for restoration of democracy. Asked about New Delhi’s reaction to the seven-point roadmap, Sibal said ‘‘we have no prescription but we are interested in democracy in our neighbourhood’’. Addressing the Union of Myanmar Federation of Chambers of Commerce and Industry earlier in the day, Shekhawat said a climate of peace and tranquility was an essential pre-requisite for enhancing trade. ‘‘Incidents of bombing in Bali, Jakarta and Mumbai require us to fight the menace of terrorism together. It has become increasingly clear that we have to pool our resources to eliminate this dangerous phenomenon in all its manifestation,’’ said Shekhawat. Asserting that Myanmar has a ‘‘special place’’ in its ‘Look East’ policy, Shekhawat sought doubling of the trade turnover between them to one billion US dollars in the next three years and said joint projects in areas of information technology, telecom, hydrocarbons, light engineering goods, food processing and pharmaceuticals held promise. Shekhawat is the first Indian Vice-President to visit Myanmar in 16 years. He invited Gen Shwe to visit India no behalf of President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and PM Vajpayee. The invitation was accepted by the general. (PTI)
