India, Myanmar hold talks on Rohingya repatriation

India and Myanmar on Saturday discussed the situation in the Rakhine state and the return of displaced Rohingyas in the 17th round of Foreign Office Consultations between the two countries, reports Times of India.

While the Indian side was led by foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale, Myanmar was represented by U Myint Thu, permanent secretary, Myanmar ministry of foreign affairs.

The meeting took place a day after Myanmar’s army and civilian leadership held a rare “national security” meeting and discussed an internal investigation into the Rohingya crisis in Rakhine state, reports AFP.

During the discussions, the two sides reviewed the complete range of bilateral relations, including high level visits, security and defence related issues, boundary matters and border management, trade and commerce, development cooperation, connectivity, cultural and consular matters.

Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj had last month paid a two-day visit to Myanmar, during which she met the country’s President U Win Myint and, state counsellor and minister for foreign affairs Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

During her visit, boundary and border related issues, peace and security matters, developments in the Rakhine state, including return of displaced Rohingyas, India’s development assistance to Myanmar, ongoing projects, and other issues of mutual interest were discussed.

Some 700,000 of the minority have fled over the border to Bangladesh after the military launched a violent crackdown on Rohingya insurgents last August that the UN and US have called “ethnic cleansing”.