New Delhi, April 6 Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh will represent India at the inauguration of Myanmar's new president Min Aung Hlaing at a ceremony in Nay Pyi Taw on April 10.
Singh will undertake a four-day visit to Myanmar starting Wednesday to attend the event as well as to participate in bilateral engagements, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
Myanmar's parliament paved the way last week for Senior General Min Aung Hlaing to assume the presidency, following a general election that excluded major opposition parties.
The elections were held in December and January after years of protests against the ruling military-junta that seized power in a coup on February 1, 2021, overthrowing the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Min Aung Hlaing has effectively been running Myanmar for the last five months, leading the military rule.
"At the invitation of the Government of Myanmar (GoM), the Minister of State for External Affairs and Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Kirti Vardhan Singh, will visit Myanmar from April 8-11 to attend the inauguration ceremony of the new President of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar on April 10 in Nay Pyi Taw," the MEA said in a statement.
"During his visit, Singh is also expected to meet with concerned GoM officials in Nay Pyi Taw, attend bilateral engagements related to ongoing trade, economic, and developmental assistance initiatives, and interact with members of the Indian diaspora and Friends of India in Yangon," it said.
Myanmar is one of India's strategic neighbors, and it shares a 1,640-kilometer-long border with several northeastern states, including the insurgency-affected states of Nagaland and Manipur.