From CK Nayak
NAY PYI TAW: The press councils of India and Myanmar on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s first official visit here on Wednesday for cooperation in the field of media.
The MoU was signed by Justice Chandramauli Kumar Prasad, Chairman of Press Council of India and U Aung Hla Tun, first vice-chairman of Myanmar Press Council. According to the memorandum, the two countries will promote peace journalism and exchange information, experience and knowledge pertaining to non-violent journalism, coverage towards restraint in matters likely to escalate conflict and act as a catalyst in deescalating conflict.
Modi, who met President of Myanmar U Htin Kyaw and State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi at the Presidential Palace in Nay Pyi Taw, said in a joint statement that the MoU would go a long way for frequent interaction between the two press councils.
The proposal for MoU had come in for discussion during the two-day India-Myanmar Media Dialogue which was organised in Shillong by the Institute of Social Sciences, Buram Centre, Delhi, Heinrich Boll Foundation and Asian Confluence. Myanmar is one of India’s strategic neighbours and shares a 1,640-km border with a number of northeastern states, including militancy-hit Nagaland and Manipur.
The country is also the first step for India’s Act East Policy since it is the gateway to Southeast Asia.