Rohingyas top on Sushma’s Myanmar visit agenda

Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj will be travelling to Myanmar on May 10-11 to discuss several bilateral issues with her counterpart. However, the issue of Rohingya refugees' repatriation from Bangaldesh to Myanmar will be prime agenda for discussions during her visit. 

The visit comes days after Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged India to play an active role in resolving the Rohingya refugee crisis by engaging more with Myanmar. India is cautiously treading on the while engaging closely both with Myanmar and Bangladesh.

India was first to send help to Bangladesh in the form of food and other essential items when Rohingya refugees started entering the country to escape large scale violence in Myanmar in August last yeaar. India is further increasing its engagement in Bangladesh on this issue and very soon it will be setting up a field hospital within the refugee camp in Cox's Bazaar. 

India had in December last year also announced a development assistance of $25 million for the Rakhine state. According to the agreement signed between former Foreign Secretary S. Jaishnakar and Myanmar Deputy Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement U Soe Aung, India will help Myanmar in building prefabricated houses to meet the immediate needs of returning Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh. 

"The External Affairs Minister will hold discussion with Myanmerese leadership on various bilateral, regional and multilateral issues of mutual interests," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said on Thursday while announcing Swaraj's visit. 

He added both sides were expected to sign several key agreements covering diverse aspects of the bilateral relationship.  

India's security concerns and the issue of cross border activities by certain insurgent groups may figure during the talks between Swaraj and the Myanmerese leaders. Myanmar is one of India's strategic neighbours and shares a 1,640 km border with a number of northeastern states.

The spokesperson stressed that both sides are expected to review the progress made on decisions taken during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Myanmar in September 2017.

On the Rohingya issue, Raveesh said India has been maintaining that normalcy would return to the Rakhine state with the return of displaced persons. "India is of the view that long term solution to the problem in the Rakhine state would be to ensure its socio-economic development," he added. Nearly 11 lakh Rohingya Muslims fled Myanmar's Rakhine State since August last year after large-scale violence.