In Myanmar, PM talks security, connectivity

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who arrived here to attend the Bay of Bengal grouping summit’s meeting on Monday, made a strong pitch to intensify efforts to combat security challenges and enhance connectivity and trade in the region, which would also benefit India’s northeastern states.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who arrived here to attend the Bay of Bengal grouping summit’s meeting on Monday, made a strong pitch to intensify efforts to combat security challenges and enhance connectivity and trade in the region, which would also benefit India’s northeastern states.

“Security challenges, require our collective vision to be overcome,” Singh said in the Myanmarese capital Nay Pyi Taw. On the first day of this two-day trip, Singh participated in bilateral meetings with Myanmar president Sein and the new Nepalese prime minister Sushil Koirala.

Setting the tone for his participation in the summit on Tuesday, Singh said, “In the security sphere, we have steadily put in place the enabling legal instruments for regional approaches to terrorism, trans-national crime, drug trafficking and legal assistance in criminal matters, the need for which is more salient in today’s integrated world than ever before.” The BIMSTEC, he said, lay at the crossroads between SAARC and ASEAN, drawing energy from the natural convergence of the countries around the Bay of Bengal. “Connectivity and sub-regional cooperation in trade and investment, energy, climate, tourism, agriculture and other areas provide the spark for the growth in our region,” he said.