'Myanmar number two to visit India'

YANGON: The second-in-command of Myanmar's ruling junta Maung Aye will soon pay an official visit to neighbouring India, the nation's state-run newspaper confirmed Sunday.

Maung Aye and his wife Mya Mya San were invited by Indian Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari, the New Light of Myanmar said, but gave no date for the trip, saying only that it would happen "in the near future."

An Indian government official said in New Delhi earlier this month that Maung Aye would arrive on April 4 for a three-day visit, with economic cooperation, security and energy topping the agenda.

The official said General Maung Aye would likely sign a pact under which India would offer 130 million dollars of investment to develop Sittwe port in western Myanmar, near the Indian border.

The aim of the port is to give India's landlocked northeast access to a new trade route to Southeast Asia.

India and Myanmar share a 1339-kilometre (832-mile) border, and New Delhi has cultivated close ties with the country's military rulers in recent years, citing its huge energy requirements.

In September last year, India pledged 150 million dollars for gas exploration in Myanmar amid anti-junta protests led by Buddhist monks.

Those investment plans drew criticism from the international community, which has been urging New Delhi and Beijing to pressure Myanmar to speed up democratic reforms.

Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962, and keeps opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest in Yangon.

A United Nations investigation found that at least 31 people were killed when the junta cracked down on the protests, which were the biggest threat to military rule in nearly 20 years.