By IANS
New Delhi : Ibrahim Gambari, the United Nations Secretary General’s special advisor on Myanmar, met External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee Thursday, and discussed recent developments in Myanmar and their impact on the neighbourhood.
The UN envoy called on Mukherjee at his South Block office at 4 p.m., at the end of his two-day visit to India On Wednesday, he met Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari and had a luncheon meeting with Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon.
Gambari had earlier visited India in October 2007 as part of his multi-nation tour to discuss with neighbours and stakeholders in the Myanmar crisis on how to put pressure on the military junta to get back on the path of democracy.
In August-September last year, the Burmese government cracked down violently on a pro-democracy movement led by Buddhist monks.
The UN official was in the Indian capital as part of his campaign to persuade the military junta to let him return to Myanmar for another visit this month.
The Myanmar government has said that Gambari is welcome to return in April. There were also indications that United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon was also looking to visit Myanmar later this year.
Gambari arrived here Monday evening, but his official appointments were only on Wednesday and Thursday, before leaving for New York.
He had in his last visit expressed his satisfaction on India’s role, but had asked for the government to “do more”. But, he did not meet the media on his second visit.
India has had extensive commercial relations with Myanmar and has been eager to strengthen energy links with the gas-rich Southeast Asian nation. Sharing a long boundary with India’s northeastern states, Myanmar’s location also has strategic import as the gateway to Southeast Asia.
Further, India has worked with Myanmar in fighting rebels in the northeast who often take shelter across the border.
India has traditionally taken a position of remaining engaged with the Myanmar government and opposed imposition of sanctions. Incidentally, India also hosts a substantial number of Burmese refugees who had come here seeking asylum after previous crackdowns on pro-democracy protestors.