Myanmar NSA in India; to meet Ajit Doval, S Jaishankar

NEW DELHI: Newly-appointed National Security Advisor ( NSA) of Myanmar, U Thaung Tun, is currently on an official visit to India and is expected to meet his Indian counterpart Ajit Doval and top security officials.

Apart from Doval, U Thaung Tun will also meet Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar and Defence Secretary G Mohan Kumar, and is expected to deliberate on issues related to security and border management.

A border management agreement between the two countries is already in place.

In June 2015, the special forces of the two armies carried out a surgical strike inside Myanmar, slaying about 15 insurgents of groups believed to be responsible for the deadly ambush of 18 Indian soldiers.

Incidentally, Doval had also visited Myanmar on June 16 last year as a Special Envoy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

A career diplomat, U Thaung Tun has held diverse posts in the course of his long career in the Myanmar Foreign office.

In his present capacity, he is expected to advise the Myanmarese government on internal and external threats by assessing situations from a strategic point of view.

"We welcome him to India and are privileged that he has chosen to make India his first port of call following his appointment. During his stay in India, he will be interacting at length with our own NSA, MoS (External Affairs), Foreign Secretary, Defence Secretary and others.

"We look forward to a productive association with U Thaung Tun and with the office of the NSA in the time to come," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.

In October last year, Myanmarese State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi had also visited India and discussed how India could support Myanmar's agenda of national reconciliation.

She had also sought India's assistance in areas of agriculture, capacity building, job creation, infrastructure and health care.