India and Myanmar agree to deepen their ties; cross border bus service, RuPay among major developments

Both India and Myanmar agreed to work together to enable the launch of India’s RuPay Card in Myanmar at the earliest, noting that National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) needs to adhere to Myanmar laws and regulations and that the launch of RuPay Card would stimulate the economy of Myanmar and facilitate tourism and business from India, the joint statement released by India and Myanmar on Friday said.

President of Myanmar U Win Myint and the First Lady Daw Cho Cho, are paying a state visit to India from Feb 26 to 29. President U Win Myint and the Myanmar delegation will also be visiting places of historical and cultural importance, including Bodh Gaya and Agra.

Welcoming the opening of the two land border crossing points at Tamu-Moreh and Rihkhawdar-Zowkhawthar as international border gates, the two countries noted the need to further facilitate the easy movement of passenger and cargo traffic by streamlining procedures and expeditiously developing infrastructure.

The Indian side reiterated its commitment towards the construction of the modern Integrated Check Post as Phase-I at Tamu, Myanmar. Both sides agreed to work together for the earliest commencement of the project.

The two sides committed to the early conclusion of discussions on the pending bilateral Motor Vehicles Agreement to facilitate cross border movement of vehicles. In this context, both sides welcomed the MoU between their respective private operators to launch a Coordinated Bus Service between Imphal and Mandalay by 7 April 2020.

India and Myanmar also agreed to commence the establishment of the border haats, with a priority to carry out a pilot project, which was previously agreed by both sides in accordance with the MoU signed in 2012.

Following the success of the Myanmar-India Border Area Development Programmes, a total of 29 additional projects under the 4th year’s tranche of Indian aid of US$ 5 million, will be implemented in 2020-21 in Chin State and Naga Self-Administered Region.

The work on Kalewa - Yargyi road section of the Trilateral Highway is expected to be completed by 2021, the statement said. India reiterated its commitment to the early upgradation of the 69 bridges on the trilateral highway, with Myanmar agreeing to facilitate this.

India reiterated its commitment to support Myanmar’s efforts for promoting peace, stability and socio-economic development in Rakhine State through the Rakhine State Development Programme.

Myanmar appreciated India’s provision of 250 pre-fabricated houses and relief materials for displaced persons in northern Rakhine in 2019.

Both sides agreed to expedite the implementation of a set of 12 projects under the second phase of the Rakhine State Development Programme and to further strengthen their development cooperation within the framework of High Impact Community Development Projects and Quick Impact Projects under the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation mechanism. In this regard, they welcomed the signing of the Agreement on Indian Grant Assistance for Implementation of Quick Impact Projects (QIP) during the State Visit.

India announced the extension of its National Knowledge Network (NKN) to Myanmar Universities. The Indian side also reiterated its readiness to support Myanmar in the establishment of the Myanmar Diplomatic Academy. Myanmar also noted with thanks India’s offer of providing technical assistance to the national ID project of Myanmar, based on India’s "Aadhar” project.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed full support for Myanmar’s peace process, which is being pursued through a dialogue between the Government, Military and Ethnic Armed Groups under the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement framework. Both leaders underlined the importance of stability and peace in pursuing the shared national goal of development in the region.