I will be visiting Myanmar from 27 to 29 May 2012 at the invitation of the President of Myanmar, His Excellency U Thein Sein.

This will be my first visit to Myanmar. It will also be the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Myanmar after a gap of 25 years.

India attaches the highest importance to its relations with Myanmar, which is a close friend and neighbour. Recent years have witnessed significant strengthening and expansion of our bilateral relations. My visit to Myanmar will provide an opportunity to review the progress in the implementation of decisions taken during the highly successful State Visit of the President of Myanmar to India in October last year. We will also consider new initiatives and define a roadmap for the further development of our cooperation in the years ahead.

Stronger trade and investment links, development of border areas, improving connectivity between our two countries and building capacity and human resources are areas that I hope to focus on during my visit. We also hope to sign a number of Agreements/MOUs to further strengthen our bilateral cooperation in these areas, besides promoting people-to-people contacts.

India welcomes Myanmar’s transition to democratic governance and the steps taken by the Government of Myanmar towards a more broad based and inclusive reconciliation process. We stand ready to share our democratic experiences with Myanmar.

In Yangon, I will have an opportunity to meet Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. I also look forward to addressing a cross-section of Myanmar society and interact with the Indian and Indian-origin community.

Our shared history and culture provides a strong basis for the enhancement of contacts between the people of our two countries. I look forward to visiting the historic Shwedagon Pagoda, a testament to 2600 years of Buddhist heritage, and the Mazar of the last Emperor of India, Bahadur Shah Zafar, in Yangon.

We remain committed to a close, cooperative and mutually beneficial partnership with the Government and people of Myanmar.