Rohingya crisis: India to offer development assistance to Rakhine state
PM Modi with Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi
India has offered "in-principle commitment"?to develop Myanmar's Rakhine state
India has offered "in-principle commitment"to develop Myanmar's Rakhine state which has been hit by violence with thousands of Rohingyas fleeing to neighbouring Bangladesh.
PM Modi who is on a two-day visit to Myanmar met Nobel laureate and Myanmar state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi in Nay Pyi Taw on Wednesday and expressed concern over violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state.
"We share your concerns about extremist violence in Rakhine state and violence against security forces and how innocent lives have been affected," India's PM had said during his meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi .
"At the same time we can have peace, justice, dignity and democratic values for all," PM Modi added.
India's foreign secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar told reporters later that India has decided to offer development assistance to Rakhine which is one of the most under developed regions of Myanmar.
Roughly 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims live in Myanmarat the moment. Rohingyas were denied citizenship way back in 1982, leaving them stateless.
Rohingyas are confined to the western coastal state of Rakhine and are not allowed to leave without the government's permission.
Due to the ongoing disturbance, several thousandRohingyas have fled to neighbouring Bangladesh.