Prime Minister of India - Dr. Manmohan Singh

Statement to the media by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi

Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh:

“It has been a great honour and great privilege for me to have had this opportunity of interacting and meeting with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. We in India are very proud of our longstanding association with her and members of her family including her parents.

I sincerely hope that she will find it possible to visit India soon. In this context I have handed over to her the invitation letter to deliver the next Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Lecture which is a very prestigious lecture. Mrs. Sonia Gandhi has written an invitation letter to Madam to do us the honour to deliver this lecture in India.

Madam Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s life, her struggle, and her determination have inspired millions of people all over the world. Our sincere belief is that in the Process of National Reconciliation which has been launched by President Thein Sein, Madam Suu Kyi will play a defining role.

I conveyed to her our very best wishes for the success of the noble endeavour in which she and her colleagues are engaged.”

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi:

"It has been a great pleasure and a privilege to meet Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, and I very much appreciate the fact that he has made time to see me here in  Yangon in spite of a very heavy programme.

As you all know, India and Burma have been particularly close over the years not just because of our geographical positions but because we have shared deep ties of friendship for many many long years.

The struggle for India’s independence took place at the same time as the struggle for Burma’s independence. My parents were great admirers of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and other Indian leaders, but we were particularly close to Panditji as I was taught to call him from a very young age.

I am very happy at the prospect of closer ties with India because I think we have much to learn from one another and we have much to contribute to peace and stability in this region, because our goals, our democratic goals, work on the basis of peace and stability, and these are what we shall aim towards.

I am very gratified by the invitation to deliver the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Lecture, and I hope that I will be able to take up this invitation before too long.

More than that, I hope that there will be greater exchanges between our two peoples. As I said to the Prime Minister, true friendship between the countries can be based only on friendship between our peoples, and this is what I hope we will be able to achieve.

Thank You."