Saran to visit Myanmar for energy cooperation

Saran, who is travelling to Myanmar for foreign Office consultations, is expected to discuss closer economic ties in various sectors.

Energy cooperation between India and Myanmar, which has large reserves of natural gas, are expected to dominate the visit of Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran to Yangon from Sunday.

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Saran, who is travelling to Myanmar for foreign office consultations, is expected to discuss closer economic ties in various sectors.

Among the main issues of discussion will be cooperation in energy sector, in which Myanmar has the potential of being a very important partner, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Navtej Sarna said in New Delhi on Saturday.

India has initiated a move to acquire gas from Myanmar, particularly from two offshore blocks. As per an initial plan, the gas had to be supplied through a pipeline to be laid between the two countries through Bangladesh.

However, Bangladesh maintained a "negative" attitude with regard to the proposed pipeline passing through its territory, delaying implementation of the proposal for a year.

In the wake of this attitude, India has decided to by-pass Bangladesh and started the process for making alternate arrangements for receiving the hydrocarbon.

State-owned Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) had asked a private company to conduct feasibility studies to transport gas from Myanmar to be received at Patna.

Another study had been commissioned to assess feasibility of transporting the gas in the form of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) bypassing Bangladesh.

Other issues to be discussed will be Kaladan Multi-Modal transport project and Tamu-Kalewa-Kalemyo road project.