Naypyidaw, Mar 3: Myanmar Prime Minister Min Aung Hlaing left for Moscow with other top ministers and military officials of the country on an official visit to Russia on Monday. According to the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to hold talks with the visiting Myanmar PM on Tuesday.
“Prospects for the further development of mutually beneficial Russian-Myanmar cooperation, as well as international issues, will be discussed,” read a statement issued by the Russian President’s office.
Following the talks, both sides are planned to adopt a joint statement and sign a number of intergovernmental and interdepartmental documents. The previous meeting between the two leaders took place in Vladivostok in the fall of 2022, when PM Aung Hlaing was attending the Eastern Economic Forum. Russia has expressed its willingness to invest in the war-ravaged country.
In January, Russia held discussions with Myanmar on investing in the Dawei Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in the Tanintharyi Region in southern Myanmar. Last week, Myanmar and Russia signed a memorandum on investment cooperation in the special economic zone in Dawei, including the construction of a port and an oil refinery, according to a statement by Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development.
Considering Myanmar as a longtime and reliable partner in Southeast Asia, Russia has sought to intensify strategic rapprochement with the country. In an interview with TASS in 2024, PM Aung Hlaing said Russia is helping Myanmar keep its army at a modern level and cooperation in the security sphere has been broad between the two countries. ”
Security cooperation has been most actively developing of late. On the one hand, it includes close contacts with the Myanmar armed forces, and on the other hand cooperation in technology exchange and personnel training. Russia helps Myanmar maintain its army at a modern level.
A big number of Myanmar military is educated in scientific-technical and military guidelines in Russian universities. It is the biggest sphere of our interaction,” said Hlaing.
IANS
