Indian Army chief General M.M. Naravane and Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla on Monday finalised India's coastal shipping agreement with Myanmar in a meeting with its State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.  Sources said the top officials also discussed the return and rehabilitation of the Rohingyas refugees in Bangladesh and Myanmar.

The shipping agreement is expected to strengthen security ties between the two countries.

IOn Monday, the Indian embassy in Myanmar said that Naravane and the Foreign Secretary along with Ambassador Saurabh Kumar called on the State Counsellor at Naypyitaw to discuss important bilateral issues.

Sources said the meeting ahead of the Myanmar general elections, was to finalise the coastal shipping agreement for the launch of the Kaladan multi-modal project and discuss measures to strengthen security ties against China-backed insurgent groups.

Myanmar will go to polls on November 8.

The coastal shipping agreement will allow Indian ships to reach Mizoram via Sittwe Port on the Bay of Bengal and through the Kaladan river multi-modal link. The project, envisioned by the Vajpayee government, had been pending for the past 20 years, sources said.

The two sides, sources said, also discussed security related issues and initiatives to block the India-Myanmar border to China-backed Indian insurgents and drug traffickers in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh. The Paresh Baruah-headed anti-India ULFA outfit is allegedly based in Yunnan province of China.

As part of India's contribution to help a friendly neighbour, Myanmar's fight against Covid-19, Shringla and Naravane handed over 3,000 vials of Remdesivir drug to Aung San Suu Kyi, Ambassador Saurabh Kumar's office in Naypyitaw said.
(IANS)