1st Indo-Myanmar Jt Consultative Commission meet on Thursday

The first meeting of India-Myanmar Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) will be held here on Thursday which will take stock of the overall bilateral ties besides identifying areas for further stepping up engagement.
The meeting, to be co-chaired by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Myanmarese counterpart U Wunna Maung Lwin, will also deliberate on regional and international issues of mutual concern.
Myanamar, considered one of India's strategic neighbours, shares a 1,640 km-long border with a number of North Eastern states including militancy-hit Nagaland and Manipur.
Last month, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar had held comprehensive talks with Myanmarese President U Thein Sein and top defence brass on security cooperation, over a week after Indian Army carried out a counter-insurgency offensive along the Indo-Myanmar border following the killing of 18 army troopers in an ambush by NSCN (Khaplang).

The JCC has been constituted under the Protocol on Consultations between the Ministry of External Affairs of India and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar signed in January 2003.
"This first JCC meeting will review progress on bilateral initiatives in various sectors, identify thrust areas and give directions for further growth of the bilateral partnership," the External Affairs Ministry said.

The meeting would also provide a useful opportunity for exchange of views on regional and international issues of mutual interest.
During his July 14-17 visit here, the Myanmarese Foreign Minister will call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and hold talks with Swaraj. He is also scheduled to visit Jaipur with a delegation from that country.

There has been steady expansion of bilateral trade from USD 12.4 million in 1980-81 to USD 1.92 million in 2012-13.
India's imports from Myanmar are dominated by agricultural items while India's main exports to Myanmar are primary and semi-finished steel and pharmaceuticals.