Narendra Modi Meets Suu Kyi, Raises Exodus Of Rohingyas

Myanmar is one of India's strategic neighbours and shares a 1,640-km-long border with a number of northeastern states including militancy-hit Nagaland and Manipur. Photo: AFP

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday met Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and the two leaders discussed ways to further cement the bilateral relations.

He raised the issue of the exodus of the ethnic Rohingyas into neighbouring countries during his meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Indian government is also concerned about Rohingya immigrants in the country, and has been considering to deport them. Around 40,000 Rohingyas are said to be staying illegally in India.

India and Myanmar were also looking at strengthening existing cooperation in areas of security and counter- terrorism, trade and investment, infrastructure and energy, and culture, Modi had said ahead of his visit.

The prime minister's visit to Myanmar comes amid a spike in ethnic violence with Rohingya Muslims in the Rakhine state.

Prime minister said India is concerned over the exodus of Rohingya Muslims and expect the it will be resolved soon.

This is Modi's first bilateral visit to Myanmar. He had visited the country in 2014 to attend the ASEAN-India Summit. The Myanmarese president and Suu Kyi had visited India last year.