UN envoy to meet PM for Myanmar talks

UN's special envoy Ibrahim Gambari is expected to meet the PM and External Affairs Minister on Tuesday.

Ibrahim Gambari, a UN special envoy, met Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon on Monday to discuss the situation in Myanmar.

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Gambari, who is on a six-nation tour to press for stronger international action on Myanmar, is expected to meet PM Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister Pranab Muhkerjee on Tuesday.

India, under pressure from the West to do more on Myanmar, has been careful in its statements, pointing to its own strategic interests in continued contacts with the military regime.

"Violence and suppression of human rights is something that hurts us," Manmohan Singh told reporters last week.

"Having said that, we have to recognise Myanmar is our neighbour and sometimes, it does not serve the objective you have in mind by going public with condemnations," he stressed.

Though Mukherjee sought an inquiry into the crackdown on protesters in Myanmar, New Delhi has maintained diplomatic niceties with the junta — sending Tourism Minister Ambika Soni for the funeral of Prime Minister Soe Win.