Myanmar's Foreign Minister, Aung San Suu Kyi to visit India

New Delhi: In what can be seen as a milestone in New Delhi’s “Neighbourhood First” policy, Myanmar’s State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi will pay a state visit to India at the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from 17 to 19 October. “The State Counsellor will be accompanied by several key Ministers and senior officials,” the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday. “During her visit, the State Counsellor will call on President of India Pranab Mukherjee and have meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj,” it stated. [caption id=“attachment_2501250” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  A file image of Aung San Suu Kyi. Reuters[/caption] Suu Kyi will also attend a business event during which she will interact with leading Indian business leaders on ways of bolstering bilateral economic and commercial relations. “The visit of the State Counsellor will provide an opportunity for the two sides to discuss issues of mutual interest and seek ways to further strengthen the close and friendly ties that exist between the two countries,” the statement said. This will be first official visit of Suu Kyi to New Delhi since her National League for Democracy (NLD) assumed power in Myanmar in March this year. Last month, Modi met Suu Kyi on the sidelines of the 14th India-Asean Summit and the 11th East Asia Summit in Vientiane, Laos. Suu Kyi spent a considerable part of her early life in India and was educated at Lady Shri Ram College in New Delhi. On 6 April this year, the 70-year-old Nobel peace laureate assumed charge as State Counsellor as she was constitutionally barred from the presidency after becoming the country’s first female foreign minister on 30 March. Prior to visiting New Delhi, Suu Kyi will attend the Brics-Bimstec Outreach Summit to be held in Goa on 15 and 16 October. In August, Myanmar President U Htin Kyaw was in New Delhi on his first official visit abroad after assuming charge. His visit came less than a week after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Nay Pyi Taw.