India Hands Over 1 Million Doses Of COVID-19 Vaccines, 10,000 Tonnes Of Wheat And Rice To Myanmar During FS Shringla's Visit To The Country

Naypyidaw (Myanmar), Dec 23 (PTI) India has provided 10 lakh doses of ‘Made in India’ coronavirus vaccines and a grant of 10,000 tonnes of rice and wheat to Myanmar as part of its continued humanitarian support for the neighbouring country, the External Affairs Ministry said on Thursday.

The assistance was announced during the visit of Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla, who is here on a two-day tour, the first such high-level outreach from India after Myanmar’s military deposed the democratically-elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup on February 1.

Shringla handed over the vaccines to the Myanmar Red Cross Society on Wednesday.

“Emphasising that India shares a long border with Myanmar, Foreign Secretary conveyed India’s continued humanitarian support for the people of Myanmar. In the context of Myanmar’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, he handed over one million doses of 'Made in India” vaccines to the Myanmar Red Cross Society,” the ministry said in a statement.

“A part of this consignment would be utilised for communities living along Myanmar’s border with India. A grant of 10,000 tonnes of rice and wheat to Myanmar was also announced,” it said.

Shringla’s visit is the first such high-level outreach from India after Myanmar’s military deposed the democratically-elected government of Suu Kyi in a coup on February 1.

During his two-day visit beginning on Wednesday, Shringla called on the Chairman, State Administrative Council General Min Aung Hlaing and other senior representatives and held meetings with members of civil society and political parties, including the National League for Democracy.

Shringla expressed India's continued support for people-centric socio-economic developmental projects, including those along with the India-Myanmar border areas, as well as India’s commitment for expeditious implementation of ongoing connectivity initiatives such as the Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project and the Trilateral Highway.

The Foreign Secretary also reiterated India’s commitment to continue with the projects under the Rakhine State Development Programme and Border Area Development Programme for the benefit of the people of Myanmar.

India shares an approximately 1700-km-long border with Myanmar. Any developments in that country have a direct impact on India’s bordering regions. Peace and stability in Myanmar remain of utmost importance to India, specifically to its North Eastern Region, the statement said.

(This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.)