Thursday, May 31, 2012

Suu Kyi to visit India

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Thursday, 31 May 2012 12:33 Mizzima News

When Aung San Suu Kyi visits India sometime this year, she will return to a country with which she has deep family and personal ties.

She has accepted an invitation to deliver the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Lecture in India, after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh presented her a letter earlier this week from Sonia Gandhi asking her to deliver the prestigious address. No date was announced for the visit.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Aung San Suu Kyi at the Sedona Hotel in Rangoon on Tuesday, May 29, 2012. Singh gave Suu Kyi an invitation to visit India from Sonia Gandhi of the Indian National Congress Party. Photo: Mizzima / Ye Min

“We in India are very proud of our longstanding association with her [Suu Kyi] and members of her family including her parents,” Singh said in a media statement.

“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s life, her struggle, and her determination have inspired millions of people all over the world,” he said. “Our sincere belief is that in the process of national reconciliation which has been launched by President Thein Sein, Madam Suu Kyi will play a defining role."

In a statement, Suu Kyi said, “The struggle for India’s independence took place at the same time as the struggle for Burma’s independence. My parents were great admirers of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and other Indian leaders, but we were particularly close to Panditji as I was taught to call him from a very young age.”

“I am very happy at the prospect of closer ties with India because I think we have much to learn from one another and we have much to contribute to peace and stability in this region, because our goals, our democratic goals, work on the basis of peace and stability, and these are what we shall aim towards,” she said.

“I hope that there will be greater exchanges between our two peoples,” she said. “As I said to the prime minister, true friendship between the countries can be based only on friendship between our peoples, and this is what I hope we will be able to achieve.”

Suu Kyi has traditional links with India – her mother was ambassador to India and she studied at the Jesus and Mary Convent School and Lady Shri Ram College.

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