Article Posted on : - Jan 06, 2012

NEW DELHI (PTI): Army Chief General V K Singh on Thursday began a five-day visit to Yangon to bolster defence ties and mutual understanding between India and Myanmar.

During his five-day visit from January 5 to 9, the Army Chief will meet Myanmar's President, Commander-in-Chief of its defence forces, Chief of General Staff of the Army and other senior officials in the government, officials said here.

General Singh will also visit the country's defence institutions like National Defence College, Command and General Staff College and North Western Command headquarters.

To strengthen defence cooperation between the two countries, India will offer to increase the number of vacancy reserved for Myanmar's gentlemen cadets in the National Defence Academy (NDA) at Khadakvasla in Pune, they said.

With enhanced thrust on sprucing up existing border mechanism between India and Myanmar, India will also offer road construction equipment to Myanmar for improving connectivity in bordering areas and across the border.