Tianjin, Aug 31: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Myanmar's State Security and Peace Commission Chairman, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in China's Tianjin on Sunday to review bilateral ties and discuss the way forward on several aspects of bilateral cooperation.

PM Modi reiterated India's readiness to support the developmental needs of Myanmar. He noted that India attaches importance to its ties with Myanmar as part of its Neighbourhood First, Act East, and Indo-Pacific policies.

In a statement shared on X, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: "PM Narendra Modi met with Senior General Mr. Min Aung Hlaing, Chairman of the State Security and Peace Commission of Myanmar, on the sidelines of the SCO Summit in Tianjin, China. The leaders reviewed India-Myanmar ties and discussed the way forward on several aspects of bilateral cooperation, including trade, development partnership, defence and security and border management. PM reiterated India's readiness to support the developmental needs of Myanmar."

PM Modi expressed hope that the forthcoming elections in Myanmar will be held in a fair and inclusive manner involving all stakeholders. He underlined that India supports a Myanmar-led and Myanmar-owned peace process, for which peaceful dialogue and consultation are the only way forward, according to the MEA statement.

"Prime Minister stressed that progress on ongoing connectivity projects would foster greater interaction between the people of the two countries, while promoting regional cooperation and integration as envisioned in India’s Act East policy", the MEA statement said.

The two leaders had last met on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok in April. This marked the first bilateral meeting between the two leaders since PM Modi assumed office for the third term.

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Earlier in the day, PM Modi held a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tianjin. The two leaders agreed on the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity in border areas and reaffirmed their commitment to cooperation based on mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity.

"Had a fruitful meeting with President Xi Jinping in Tianjin on the sidelines of the SCO Summit. We reviewed the positive momentum in India-China relations since our last meeting in Kazan. We agreed on the importance of maintaining peace and tranquillity in border areas and reaffirmed our commitment to cooperation based on mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity", PM Modi said in a X post after the meeting.

PM Modi also met Politburo Standing Committee member Cai Qi and discussed bilateral economic, political and people-to-people exchanges between India and China.

PM Modi arrived in China's Tianjin on Saturday to attend the two-day SCO Summit. Travelling from Tokyo after concluding his Japan visit, he received a colourful welcome upon his arrival at the Binhai International Airport in Tianjin.

(IANS)

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