India and Myanmar on Monday inked five pacts, including one in the field of security and agreed on close cooperation between security forces of the two countries in tackling the pernicious problem of terrorism.
India's Oil and Natural Gas Corp and GAIL (India) Ltd's equity in two gas rich offshore blocks in Myanmar have been cut following Myanmar's national oil company exercising its 'step-in' rights in the fields, gas from where will be sold to China.
COVID-19 has accomplished what the UN failed to do in the last 75 years by making mankind rally around a mask of unity, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The agreements were reached during the 11th round of Home Secretary level talks between the two countries in Yangon.
Indian claims to the Ram story and ownership could be challenged from more places than one, says N Sathiya Moorthy.
'She has never advocated people taking to the streets and calling for a revolution.' 'I don't know if that will change now.'
Continuing its aid to cyclone-affected Myanmar and quake-hit China, India will fly out three aircraft with relief materials to the two neighbouring countries this week. An Indian Air Force's heavylift fixed wing IL-76 aircraft will leave for Yangon on Wednesday. This will be the sixth IL-76 flight to Myanmar.Till date, the IAF has flown over 15 mercy missions and carried over 300 tonnes of medicines, tents, water, wheelchairs, portable houses and other relief material.
As Myanmar grapples with crises in the aftermath of deadly cyclone Nargis, another tropical storm appears headed for its shores, the India Meteorological Department said on Wednesday. The IMD, which is the Regional Specialised Meteorological Centre of the World Meteorological Office, has issued a advisory on the impending extreme weather condition. The United Nations has warned that the Myanmar could face a 'second catastrophe'.
A report by ABC News has stated that the comments follow reports that Indian authorities warned Myanmar 48 hours before Nargis hit landfall and that many people in Myanmar learnt of the approaching cyclone from international media. Available information could have been used to warn against the likelihood of a major storm surge, according to Sharp and Melbourne-based CSIRO storm surge expert Dr Katherine McInnes.
More than a million people were left homeless and many more in need of humanitarian assistance, with the deadly cyclone devastating large areas of Myanmar and killing at least 22,000, the United Nations said on Thursday. Another 41,000 are still missing. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the Myanmar government to respond to the outpouring of international support and solidarity, by facilitating the arrival of aid workers and the clearance for the relief supplies.
The relief material from India started reaching Myanmar on Wednesday, with two Indian Air Force planes and two Naval ships arriving in the cyclone-hit country with urgently required essential supplies. India is sending another consignment of relief material by an IL-76 aircraft of IAF on Thursday to the neighbouring country, where the death toll has crossed 22,000 and is rising rapidly, revealing the extent of widespread devastation caused by the calamity.
The Irrawaddy delta, which was directly hit by Cyclone Nargis on Friday, remains cut off and it could be days, or even weeks, before aid reached the victims, UN said. Reports from Myanmar said in Yangon, volunteers including Buddhist monks and the army were trying to clear the debris, but in the adjoining areas where most of the more than 22,000 people died and twice the number went missing, the survivors were on their own.
"Our message is to the military rulers: Let the US come to help you, help the people. Our hearts go out to the people of Burma. We want to help them deal with this terrible disaster. At the same time, of course, we want them to live in a free society," Bush said. President George W Bush on Tuesday asked Myanmar's military junta to allow the United States to provide disaster relief to thousands of people, who were left homeless by the devastating cyclone,
Mother Nature is indeed beautiful and truly astonishing! These incredible images are some of the top entries for this year's AGORA's #Nature2019 Photo Contest. AGORA is a free-to-use photography app that has been rewarding the world's biggest prizes in global photo contests since 2017. The winner will be announced on September 5, 2019.
Defence sources in Kohima, on Thursday, said the delegation of Myanmar Army held a meeting with their Indian counterpart, headed by Maj Gen T S Handa, GOC, 57 Mountain Division, and discussed various issues, including cross-border insurgency, arms smuggling and border management. The delegation also called on Lt Gen M S Dadwal, GOC, 3 Corps.
The Government of India is in constant touch with its counterpart in Myanmar for opening a trade route to link the land locked North-East Indian states to markets in ASEAN countries, through Myanmar. The Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT), R S Gujral, had disclosed that discussion with the Myanmar government was on regarding opening of the trade route through that country. He hoped that it would come through for the benefit of exporters from the landlocked North East.
'Amongst all the Southeast Asian countries, 2011 has witnessed one of the greatest changes in Myanmar. A military dictatorial regime in power for decades made way for an elected government; albeit not as per democracy's definition by the book, but, at least a transition towards a freer nation.'
India and Myanmar have signed a Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), which provides that business profits will be taxable in the source state. In the case of India, the DTAA will cover income tax and surcharge and in the case of Myanmar, income tax and profit tax. However the maximum rate of tax to be charged in the country of source will not exceed 5 per cent in the case of dividends & 10% in the case of interest and royalties. The deal also has anti-abuse provisions.
India will finally sign an investment treaty - the Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPA) - with Myanmar in the first week of April. The pact is going to be of critical interest to a host of oil majors looking at investments in the resource-rich country.According to sources, the treaty will be signed with the approval of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The Cabinet ratification, they say, will come later.
India's neighbours -- Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka -- are featured in the list of the "most failed states", according to the annual ranking prepared by the Foreign Policy magazine.
Those in the soccer competition that started ahead of the main event beginning on Saturday have borne the brunt of the disruption.
India won the match 21-25, 25-16, 25-22, 25-18 to set up a summit clash against Chinese Taipei on Sunday.
Health Minister Harsh Vardhan advised people to refrain from non-essential travel to Iran, Italy, South Korea and Singapore.
The manifesto also commits Labour to constitute a judge-led inquiry into Britain's "injustices of the past", including a public review of the country's role in Operation Blue Star -- referred to as the "Amritsar massacre".
Recently, First Lady Laura Bush, during a video teleconference in recognition of International Human Rights Day, said: "India, one of Burma's (Myanmar) closest trading partners, has stopped selling arms to the junta." However, a spokesman for the Indian Embassy in Washington declined to comment on the story.
All the evacuees will undergo a 14-day quarantine at a medical facility.
Heavy gunbattle between Manipur People's Army insurgents and security forces has been reported from Chandel district where the army has launched Operation Somtal II since November 15 to flush out insurgents, official sources said on Saturday.
India voted against the resolutions, supported by an overwhelming number of western States, on Myanmar and Iran and abstained on one criticising North Korea's human rights record. Several delegations also protested that the texts represented an attempt to interfere in the internal affairs of member states and were politically motivated with no real interest in human rights.Delegate Kunwar Sarvraj Singh stressed on the need to promote human rights through dialogue.
Differences among the Association of South-East Asian Nations came to the fore on Tuesday night when 10 heads of governments aborted a briefing by United Nations Special Envoy Ibrahim Gambari on the Myanmar situation after Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein strongly opposed the move.
Ahead of his meeting with his Myanmarese counterpart, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday hoped the ongoing dialogue between the military junta and pro-democracy leaders will have a "satisfactory outcome".
Opening the plenary on Tuesday morning, Singapore premier Lee Hsein Loong said the ASEAN leaders will strive to prevent the Myanmar issue "from obstructing efforts to deepen integration and build an ASEAN Community" after the grouping abruptly withdrew an invitation to UN envoy Ibrahim Gambari to address the summit following Yangaon's objection.
Goyal was to visit Beijing from August 2 to 3 to take part in the RCEP Intersessional Ministerial meet.
the security sources said the banned group's leadership had shifted many of its cadre based in eastern Assam areas to its camps inside Myanmar.
"India will continue to play a constructive and positive role, along with like-minded countries, to this end," External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said while briefing on the talks Gambari had with Dr Singh, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon during his two-day visit to New Delhi since Monday.
Myanmar's Foreign Minister Nyan Win, in a letter sent to Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon on Friday, confirmed his nation had agreed to the visit by Paolo Sergio Pinheiro, the S-G's Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in Myanmar. The announcement comes as Ibrahim Gambari, UN's Special Envoy for Myanmar, continued his consultations with the troubled country's neighbours and regional partners ahead of a planned return trip to Myanmar next month.
Amid growing world pressure on India over Myanmar issue, United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari on Monday met Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon who emphasized that New Delhi favoured democracy in the neighbouring country, but opposed coercion.
Worried that any repressive measures in Myanmar will lead to instability that will have an impact on this country, India hopes dialogue will soon begin between the junta and imprisoned pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee met his Myanmarese counterpart U Nyan Win in New York on Monday
The Bush administration has expressed disappointment at the UN Security Council's response to the violence in Myanmar, saying it should have taken "stronger" action.
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