Sun May 17, 2009 3:36pm IST
DHAKA (Reuters) - Myanmar has proposed expanding a planned road project with Bangladesh to link up with China in a tri-nation network, a senior foreign ministry official said on Sunday.
The proposal was made during talks between Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and her Myanmarese counterpart U Nyan Win in Yangon on Saturday, he said.
China has friendly relations with both countries and is a major trade partner. With nearly $2 billion annual exports to Bangladesh it is the country's largest trade partner after India.
Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a deal in July 2007 to construct a 25 km road to connect the two countries and construction will begin soon, officials at the Communication Ministry said.
"Both Myanmar and China are interested to set up the tri-nation road network," the statement quoted the Myanmar foreign minister as telling his Bangladesh counterpart.
There is no road linking Bangladesh and Myanmar, although there are two transit points along the border. Bangladesh will fund the road, most of which will be inside Myanmar, with only about 2 km in Bangladesh.
Both countries believe that the road will help boost bilateral trade, currently worth only around $60 million, a spokesman for the Bangladesh foreign ministry said.
Bangladesh and Myanmar share a 320-km border, partly demarcated by the Naf river, a regular route for smuggling and illegal crossings by minority Muslims fleeing what they say is persecution by Myanmar's military junta.
Tension rose between the two usually friendly neighbours last October when Myanmar started exploring for oil and gas in a disputed area of the Bay of Bengal, defying protests by Dhaka.
Both countries deployed navy ships but withdrew them when Myanmar halted the exploration amid intense diplomatic pressure.
More than 20,000 Rohingya Muslims have been living in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district since 1992, after they fled Myanmar's western Arakan state.
Source: http://in.reuters.com/article/southAsiaNews/idINIndia-39680820090517
DHAKA (Reuters) - Myanmar has proposed expanding a planned road project with Bangladesh to link up with China in a tri-nation network, a senior foreign ministry official said on Sunday.
The proposal was made during talks between Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and her Myanmarese counterpart U Nyan Win in Yangon on Saturday, he said.
China has friendly relations with both countries and is a major trade partner. With nearly $2 billion annual exports to Bangladesh it is the country's largest trade partner after India.
Bangladesh and Myanmar signed a deal in July 2007 to construct a 25 km road to connect the two countries and construction will begin soon, officials at the Communication Ministry said.
"Both Myanmar and China are interested to set up the tri-nation road network," the statement quoted the Myanmar foreign minister as telling his Bangladesh counterpart.
There is no road linking Bangladesh and Myanmar, although there are two transit points along the border. Bangladesh will fund the road, most of which will be inside Myanmar, with only about 2 km in Bangladesh.
Both countries believe that the road will help boost bilateral trade, currently worth only around $60 million, a spokesman for the Bangladesh foreign ministry said.
Bangladesh and Myanmar share a 320-km border, partly demarcated by the Naf river, a regular route for smuggling and illegal crossings by minority Muslims fleeing what they say is persecution by Myanmar's military junta.
Tension rose between the two usually friendly neighbours last October when Myanmar started exploring for oil and gas in a disputed area of the Bay of Bengal, defying protests by Dhaka.
Both countries deployed navy ships but withdrew them when Myanmar halted the exploration amid intense diplomatic pressure.
More than 20,000 Rohingya Muslims have been living in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district since 1992, after they fled Myanmar's western Arakan state.
Source: http://in.reuters.com/article/southAsiaNews/idINIndia-39680820090517
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