Myanmar Military junta looking towards promotion of tourism 
Yangon to authorize a travel agency for tourists coming from India through Moreh
By Bit Irom (Lately in Tamu, Myanmar)
Tamu, Myanmar:

Yangon is looking forward to have close relationship with its neighboring country - India through Moreh - international trade center in the Manipur sector. The Senior General Than Shwe has instructed Myanmar military junta authorities posted at Tamu and Kalemyo to authorize a travel agency inside Myanmar for happy traveling of foreign tourists particularly those coming from India through Moreh, India's gateway to South-East Asian countries.

Tamu and Kalemyo are the capital cities of Kabow valley and Saigang division respectively, which lie in the northwestern part of Myanmar bordering India. Under the Indo Myanmar bilateral trade agreement signed in 1994, residents of the two sides possessing Indo Myanmar travel passes are allowed to visit upto Kalewa/Kalemyo in Myanmar and upto Imphal on the Indian side.

But the Myanmar authorities have relaxed certain rules of tourists coming from India, particularly from the northeastern states. Indo Myanmar Friendship Tourism Center, Moreh had successfully organized a 7-day tour to Mandalay, the former capital of Myanmar from October 12 to 19, 2001. A total number of 72 tourists from Imphal took part in the tour, which is the first of its kind since India and Myanmar got their independence from the British in 1947 and 1948 respectively.

The Myanmar Military junta had managed two buses for the tourists from Manipur. Interestingly, the tourists were allowed to pass several places inside Myanmar upto Mandalay without any passport and valid documents. But strict measures were taken with the checking of the tourists by the immigration authorities which would have otherwise gone through the Customs formalities and which the Burmese Military Junta would have objected to. This is significant in the face of tourism development between the two countries.

Talking to the Hindustan Times, Lt. Col. San Shwe Tha, Chairman, District Peace and Development Council, Tamu, said, a fifty-member cycling expedition team from India had exchanged views with the Myanmar authorities at Tamu and Kalemyo during their sojourn inside Myanmar on April 25 and 26. They made history and the Indo Myanmar relationship in the field of tourism and culture was strengthened.

"We have to emulate the Indian style of promoting tourism by providing authorization to a travel agency in order to facilitate free and fair movement of the tourists from across the border", Lt. Col. San She Tha said. A travel agency - the Indo Myanmar Friendship Tourist Center, Moreh, guided the Indian cycling expedition team. This agency has taken all the important documents from the Indian authorities and their Myanmar counterparts for the tourists passing between the two countries.  Moirangthem Indrasen Singh, Managing Director of the IMFTC told this correspondent that about Rs 200 was charged for taking passport from an individual willing to travel into Myanmar.

The requirement of the travel agency inside Myanmar has been made when the Indo-Myanmar cycling expedition team from Imphal, Manipur was guided in their movement by the officials of the military junta particularly from the special task force team coming from Yangon who were sent by the Senior General Than Shwe to supervise the new venture.

Moirangthem Indrasen Singh, who is also president of the newly formed Indo-Myanmar Friendship Chamber of Commerce, has also expressed his happiness over the fact that history has been created in the Indo Myanmar relationship with the journey undertaken inside Myanmar by the cycling expedition from Imphal, India. This tourist center has taken all the responsibility for smooth conduct of the trip.

In fact, this is the first time that an Indian team visited Kalemyo since the inauguration of the 165 km long Tamu-Kalewa-Kalemyo road by the External Affairs minister Jaswant Singh on February 13. The construction was undertaken under the overall supervision of the Indian government with a financial assistance of Rs 122 crores. Since the opening of this road which links India with Myanmar through Moreh, bilateral trade between the two countries have started gaining momentum paving the way for enhanced tourism, cultural exchange, trade and economic ties.  However, Indian traders within the purview of the Indo Myanmar trade agreement, have entered upto Kalemyo and continued their flourishing business with their Myanmar counterparts.

Buoyed by the success of the Indo Myanmar relationship in the bilateral trade and enhanced tourism, IMFTC in conjunction with the Affairs of Benign Center, Naharup Imphal has announced that another program on improvement of relationship would be made by organizing a motor Safari from Imphal to Kalemyo. However, the date for the program is yet to be fixed, the IMFTC Managing Director said.

(Bit Irom is an Imphal-based Hindustan Times Correspondent)

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