PM Modi presents special gift to Myanmar State Counsellor Suu Kyi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday presented Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi a special reproduction of the original research proposal that she had submitted for fellowship at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study at Shimla in May 1986.

The research proposal was titled "The Growth and Development of Burmese and Indian Intellectual Traditions Under Colonialism: A Comparative Study."

Prime Minister Modi also presented the country's President, U. Htin Kyaw, a reproduction of a 1841-map of a stretch of the River Salween (that flows from the Tibetan Plateau into the Andaman Sea) and a sculpture of the Bodhi tree.

Prime Minister Modi hailed the meeting, during which they discussed steps to deepen the "historical relationship" between the two neighbours, as "wonderful".

India and Myanmar signed 11 agreements in a range of sectors, including one on maritime security cooperation, to further strengthen their multifaceted partnership.

Prime Minister Modi held wide-ranging talks with Myanmar's State Counsellor Suu Kyi and announced gratis visas for people of Myanmar and promised to release the 40 Myanmarese citizens, lodged in Indian jails.

"India's democratic experience is relevant to Myanmar. As neighbours, our interests are similar in the area of security. It's necessary for us to work together towards the security of our land and maritime border," Prime Minister Modi said.