8216;India not soft on Myanmar8217;

Ibrahim Gambari, a Special Envoy of the United Nations Secretary-General, has said that India was not going soft on Myanmar and was 8220;fully engaged8221; with the UN in a 8220;common objective.8221;

After meeting Union External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday, he said the 8220;right messages8221; were being conveyed to the neighbouring country and the world was looking to Myanmar becoming a democracy at the earliest. 8220;There8217;s a lot of conversation between India and the government of Myanmar. We think the right messages are being conveyed on behalf of the UN Secretary-General. There8217;s a feeling that India is now fully engaged with the UN and working together to bring about the common objective,8221; he said after the half-hour meeting with Mukherjee.

He said the UN was not happy with Myanmar8217;s pace of reforms in the direction of democracy but was certain India would use its influence with the country for positive results. Gambari arrived here on a two-day visit on Wednesday and has met Mukherjee and Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon and Vice-President Hamid Ansari.