New Delhi (Mizzima) – Burmese President Thein Sein began an official visit to India on Wednesday with a trip to donate robes to a Burmese monastery in Bodh Gaya in Gaya, India, on Thursday.
Thein Sein’s four-day visit is his first visit to India since he was sworn in as president in March. He took a special flight on Wednesday to Gaya, the location where Buddha is said to have attained his enlightenment.
During the state visit, he will go to New Delhi and meet with Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, according to a statement released by India’s foreign ministry.
Thein Sein, his wife, Khin Khin Win, and the Burmese delegation, which comprises 59 people, arrived at Gaya at around 11 a.m. on Wednesday. The robe donation ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at a Burmese monastery at Bodh Gaya. Monks from 17 monasteries in Bodh Gaya will attend the ceremony, a monk told Mizzima.
Thein Sein planned to visit Mahabodhi Temple to pay homage to Buddha and light oil lamps on Wednesday evening, the Full Moon Day of Thadingyut, according to the Burmese Buddhist calendar. Temple authorities were making preparations including security measures.
On Thursday evening, the delegation will travel to New Delhi, the capital of India. The Burmese delegation will pay homage at the Mahatma Gandhi Mausoleum. On Saturday, the last day of the visit, they will visit the India Agricultural Research facility.
According to a presidential adviser, the Burmese and Indian leaders will discuss the political and economic relationship between the two countries and border security issues.
A few days before President Thein Sein’s visit, Indian newspapers reported that Indian Maoist rebels, popularly known as Naxalites, had a plan to open training camps inside Burmese territory within weeks, according to documents seized by police.
On September 26, at the fourth meeting of the Joint Trade Commission held in New Delhi, Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and Burmese Commerce Minister Win Myint agreed to double bilateral trade to US$ 3 billion by 2015.
India has invested in Burmese sectors including medicine, railroads, oil and natural gas, mining and hydropower. The value of the existing bilateral trade is about US$ 1.5 billion.
The two countries expect that the construction of the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project will be completed in 2013 at a cost of more than US$ 120 million.
Meanwhile, media reports have noted the competition between India and China to gain economic interests in Burma. Burma’s decision to halt the Myitsone Dam project last week was a blow to China, which is also constructing a pipeline project through Burma to transport oil and natural gas to Kunming in Yunnan Province.
Thein Sein’s last visit to India was in November 2008 when he was Burma’s prime minister.
Burmese President Thein Sein, center, is welcomed by Indian officials upon arrival at Gaya International Airport on October 12, 2011. His official visit to India offers New Delhi a chance to deepen its relations with a neighbour that has traditionally allied with India's regional rival China. Thein Sein will travel to two major Buddhist pilgrimage sites in eastern India before flying to New Delhi on Friday for the official leg of his state visit. Photo: AFP
During the state visit, he will go to New Delhi and meet with Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, according to a statement released by India’s foreign ministry.
Thein Sein, his wife, Khin Khin Win, and the Burmese delegation, which comprises 59 people, arrived at Gaya at around 11 a.m. on Wednesday. The robe donation ceremony will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at a Burmese monastery at Bodh Gaya. Monks from 17 monasteries in Bodh Gaya will attend the ceremony, a monk told Mizzima.
Thein Sein planned to visit Mahabodhi Temple to pay homage to Buddha and light oil lamps on Wednesday evening, the Full Moon Day of Thadingyut, according to the Burmese Buddhist calendar. Temple authorities were making preparations including security measures.
On Thursday evening, the delegation will travel to New Delhi, the capital of India. The Burmese delegation will pay homage at the Mahatma Gandhi Mausoleum. On Saturday, the last day of the visit, they will visit the India Agricultural Research facility.
According to a presidential adviser, the Burmese and Indian leaders will discuss the political and economic relationship between the two countries and border security issues.
A few days before President Thein Sein’s visit, Indian newspapers reported that Indian Maoist rebels, popularly known as Naxalites, had a plan to open training camps inside Burmese territory within weeks, according to documents seized by police.
On September 26, at the fourth meeting of the Joint Trade Commission held in New Delhi, Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and Burmese Commerce Minister Win Myint agreed to double bilateral trade to US$ 3 billion by 2015.
India has invested in Burmese sectors including medicine, railroads, oil and natural gas, mining and hydropower. The value of the existing bilateral trade is about US$ 1.5 billion.
The two countries expect that the construction of the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project will be completed in 2013 at a cost of more than US$ 120 million.
Meanwhile, media reports have noted the competition between India and China to gain economic interests in Burma. Burma’s decision to halt the Myitsone Dam project last week was a blow to China, which is also constructing a pipeline project through Burma to transport oil and natural gas to Kunming in Yunnan Province.
Thein Sein’s last visit to India was in November 2008 when he was Burma’s prime minister.
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