Taking bilateral cooperation to a higher plane, India and Myanmar signed three agreements in the petroleum, space and education sectors on Thursday, in the presence of President APJ Abdul Kalam and Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, Senior General Than Shwe.
The Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in the Petroleum Sector pertains to the transport of natural gas from the Arakan port of Myanmar, either through a pipeline Via the North East or through Bangladesh.
India has been pressing for building a pipeline from Myanmar through Bangladesh, to meet the yawning gap between energy and supply.
The option of converting the gas into Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) for shipping it is also under consideration, as it would be cost-effective, considering that the distance is not too much.
The MoU was signed by Prabh Das, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and the Director-General of Energy Planning Department of the Ministry of Energy of Myanmar, sources said.
Another MoU on cooperation in Buddhist studies was inked by Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran and Brig General Thura Aung Ko, Deputy Minister for Religious Affairs, Myanmar.
A Framework Agreement on mutual cooperation in the field of Remote Sensing was concluded for setting up of a ground station in Myanmar.
{{/usCountry}}A Framework Agreement on mutual cooperation in the field of Remote Sensing was concluded for setting up of a ground station in Myanmar.
{{/usCountry}}The station will receive remote sensing data from IRS satellite for various uses, including agriculture purposes like survey of soil and minerals.
The documents were signed on the second day of the three-day visit of Kalam to Myanmar, the first-ever by an Indian Head of State.