Indian president leaves Myanmar with deal on natural gas - Yahoo! News

YANGON (AFP) - Indian President Abdul Kalam left Myanmar after a four day trip in which he sealed a deal allowing his country to search for new ways to tap Myanmar's natural gas reserves.
ADVERTISEMENT

The deal marked India's latest move in its competition with China for influence in military-ruled Myanmar, despite international condemnation of the junta's human rights abuses and calls for the release of detained pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Indian foreign ministry official Shyam Saran told reporters in Yangon that Kalam and Myanmar's junta chief, Senior General Than Shwe, did not discuss the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi.

India has been trying to negotiate a three-billion-dollar deal to run a pipeline from Myanmar across Bangladesh to the eastern Indian city of Kolkata, but failed to make headway in the talks.

The agreement signed Thursday would allow studies into running a much longer pipeline through northeast India, which borders Myanmar, or converting the gas to liquefied natural gas for shipping.

China and Myanmar have already signed a deal to allow China to study building a pipeline from the Arakan Coast to its Yunnan province.

Most of Kalam's visit, the first by an Indian head of state, focused on business, although he also reached agreements on satellite imagery, telecoms, and education.

The satellite deal would allow Myanmar to use Indian satellite imagery, which could be applied to agricultural projects or to survey for minerals.

The third deal was to improve cooperation in Buddhist studies.

Official media in Myanmar reported Saturday that the two countries also reached an agreement for Telecommunications Consultants India Limited to run fiber-optic cables from the border town of Moreh to Myanmar's second city, Mandalay.

The state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper said the deal would also improve high-speed Internet access in Myanmar.

Kalam was headed to Mauritius for two days before returning home.