After returning home from visits to Burma and Mauritius, Kalam told reporters yesterday that India is interested “in the well-being of Aung San Suu Kyi,” and “had a [close] friendship with her father [Gen Aung San].”

Historically, bilateral relations between the two countries have been quite close. During Burma’s push for independence from Great Britain, the leaders of India and Burma—Jawaharlal Nehru and Aung San—maintained close political ties. Khin Kyi, Suu Kyi’s mother, was also ambassador to India during the 1960s, and Suu Kyi studied at Delhi’s Lady Shriram College.

Suu Kyi began her latest stint under house arrest when she was detained following a clash between supporters and a pro-military mob in northern Burma in May 2003.

“Senior General Than Shwe informed [me] that he would discuss India’s interest in Suu Kyi with his colleagues and get back to us,” Kalam told reporters on his return flight from Rangoon. The Indian press suggested that an unplanned discussion on Suu Kyi occurred as Kalam took his leave of Than Shwe at Rangoon International Airport.

Kalam also said he offered the Burmese leader assistance with the government’s proposed roadmap to democracy. “I told him India would be happy to push the parliamentary system [in Burma] as far as possible.”

During his two-day visit to Burma, Kalam also secured an agreement to import natural gas from Burma’s Arakan State and extended nearly US $40 million in loans to Burma for development projects.

>From 1997 to 2003, India provided $50 million in loans to Burma for
industrial development projects under an agreement for economic and technological cooperation. In July 2004, India provided an additional $56 million to upgrade Burma’s railways. India has also considered investing in the building of a border road that would directly link the country’s Mizoram State to northern Chin State in Burma.

Kalem described his visit to Burma as “very important,” because the country is “the gateway to Southeast Asia.”

India and Thailand have jointly agreed to fund an $800 million 1,400 km highway network linking the two countries with Burma, with additional funding from India to run a fiber-optic telecommunications network along the proposed highway.

India’s “look east” policy towards Burma has greatly increased bilateral ties between the countries in an effort that some say is designed to offset Burma’s close links to regional powerhouse China.

Source: The Irrawaddy