Daily News- July 12- 2002- Friday

  • India, Myanmar agree to dismantle terrorist camps
  • Myanmar blacklists 15 Thai journalists as diplomatic brawl worsens
  • Myanmar claims having full food security

    • India, Myanmar agree to dismantle terrorist camps

    NEW DELHI, July 11 (Xinhuanet) -- India and Myanmar agreed on Thursday to work together to dismantle terrorist camps in Myanmar and to firmly deal with drug trafficking along the common border of the two neighbors.

    According to minutes signed here between the two sides, both countries will regulate cross-border trade and speed up the process of jointly executed projects like maintenance of a border road and hydro-electric projects.

    The minutes were signed by Indian Secretary of the Home AffairsMinistry Kamal Pande and Myanmar Deputy Home Minister Thura Myint Maung, who arrived here on Wednesday for the Eighth National-levelmeeting between the two countries.

    A spokesman of the Indian Home Affairs Ministry told the media after the signing ceremony that the meeting provided both sides with an opportunity to interact on a wide-range of issues on security-related issues, particularly matters relating to control of militancy and border management.

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    Myanmar blacklists 15 Thai journalists as diplomatic brawl worsens

    YANGON, July 12 (AFP) - Myanmar Friday blacklisted 15 Thai journalists who it accused of campaigning against the military-run country, in the latest salvo of a damaging war of words between the neighbours.

    "These 15 have been blacklisted for consistently writing anti-Myanmar articles. They will not be given any visas to come to this country," said Brigadier-General Kyaw Win, deputy chief of military intelligence.The 15 were not named but Kyaw Win said four were from The Nation, one from the Bangkok Post, three from the Thai-language daily Thai Rath and the remainder from television stations and other newspapers.

    Myanmar's move comes in retaliation against Thai authorities' decision last month to blacklist Ma Tin Win, the author of a series of articles in the official press accused of insulting Thailand's revered monarchy.

    Thai Foreign Minister Surakiart Sathirathai said on June 28 that his ministry had blacklisted both the author and Maung Maung, editor of the official New Light of Myanmar.The diplomatic brawl, sparked by a border crisis that erupted in May, have brought ties between the historic adversaries to a new low.

    "I don't think the situation will get further out of hand because it can't get any worse than this," Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said last month.

    Relations soured badly following clashes along the border during which ethnic Shan rebels overran Myanmar military bases.Myanmar accused Thailand of providing support to the rebels, a claim the Thai military has consistently denied.

    After both countries exchanged protests on May 20, Yangon slammed shut its checkpoints on the Thai border, banned official visiting delegations, and launched a nationalistic tirade against Thailand in the state-run media.

    Myanmar has issued a ban on mentioning Thailand in the official press, with papers instead referring to "Yodaya", a centuries-old name for the Thai kingdom whose capital Ayutthaya was sacked by the Burmese in 1767.

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    Myanmar claims having full food security

    YANGON, July 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Myanmar now has full food security and is able to contribute to regional and international requirements, the country's official newspaper The New Light of Myanmar claimed on Friday.

    While engaged in its own national construction, the country will also enthusiastically cooperating with the international community in global issues such as poverty alleviation, economic development and population, the paper said.

    It expressed Myanmar's determination to continue to play an active role in collaboration and cooperation with all nations, the United Nations and its relevant agencies as well as local and international non-governmental organizations.

    Myanmar, with a land of over 670,000 square kilometers (sq-km) and a population of 51.4 million, has a favorable population to land ratio and a low population density of only 76 persons per sq-km. Of the country's 18.21 million hectares of arable land, only about 10.52 million are cultivated with a huge potential for increased agricultural production remaining to be tapped.

    According to official statistics, in the fiscal year 2001-02 which ended in March 2002, Myanmar produced 22.3 million tons of paddy out of 6.47 million hectares cultivated land. It targets to put 6.63 million hectares under paddy in the fiscal year 2002-03. The statistics also show that the country exported 692,700 tons of rice in 2001.

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