The Irrawaddy News
India has agreed to provide Burma with US $84 million in loans and credits to build power transmission lines and an aluminum plant, state media said on Wednesday.
Four agreements related to the loans were signed Tuesday during the visit to Burma by India's Minister of State for Commerce and Power Shri Jairam Ramesh, the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper said.
The agreements covered a loan of $64 million to finance three power transmission lines and a $20 million credit line to build an aluminum wire plant.
Burma is making a push to develop its hydroelectric potential, with India, China and Thailand the biggest foreign investors.
The two countries also signed an agreement to facilitate banking. India is one of Burma's major trading partners, with the balance of trade consistently in favor of Burma.
Relations between the two nations, which share an 830-mile (1,330 kilometer) border, turned cold when Burma's military took power in 1988 by suppressing pro-democracy demonstrations. Ties have improved significantly since 2000 with mutual visits by government leaders.
The second-highest ranking member of Burma's ruling junta, Vice Snr-Gen Maung Aye, visited India in April to witness the signing of a $120 million project to upgrade waterways and highways along Burma's Kaladan River and develop the port of Sittwe in northwestern Burma.
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