Doval, Jaishankar meet Myanmar president, discuss security ties

Days after the Indian Army's operation to strike at hideouts of northeast militants along the border with Myanmar, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar on Wednesday visited the neighbouring country and held talks with the leadership, including President U Thein Sein.

Doval and Jaishankar called on President Thein Sein and held discussions with him. They also met the Myanmar foreign minister, India's external affairs ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup told IANS.

The two sides discussed "security cooperation and coordination on the Indo-Myanmar border as well as other bilateral issues", the official said.

Doval's visit comes after the June 9 operation along the India-Myanmar border during which elite commandos of the Indian Army entered a few kilometres inside Myanmarese territory to destroy two camps of insurgents hiding there.

The Indian Army operation was in retaliation to the June 4 ambush by northeast militants in Manipur's Chandel district in which 18 soldiers of 6 Dogra Regiment were killed.

India and Myanmar had inked an MoU on border cooperation on May 10, 2014, which provides a framework for security cooperation and exchange of information between the security agencies of the two countries.

A key provision is that of conduct of coordinated patrols on their respective sides of the international border and the maritime boundary by the armed forces of the two countries.

Both sides agreed to exchange information in the fight against insurgency, arms smuggling and drug, human and wildlife trafficking, and to take steps to prevent illegal cross-border activities, according to the MoU.