Regarding Than Shwe visit and Vietnam relations

Reply to Sid Gau:

Two comments:
1) The itin seems to be:
Sunday - Checks in at 10:30 AM at Royal Residency hotel near the Bodhgaya international airport. Visits the Mahabodhi temple with wife. Makes visit to Sarnath and Varanasi.

Monday - Arrives at the Mahabodhi temple in Bodhgaya at 5 AM, offers prayers and meditates for 5 hours. Checks out from the hotel at 12:45 PM.

Travel to New Delhi and is received by Preneet Kaur at the Indira Gandhi airport.

Checks in at ITC Maurya Hotel at about 6:30 PM.

Tuesday - As a guest of Pratibha Patil, he is accorded a ceremonial reception in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan. Pratibha Patil hosts a banquet in his honour. He is then called upon by M. Hamid Ansari, S. M. Krishna, and Sushma Swaraj. He then has a meeting with Dr. Manmohan Singh, which was followed by delegation level talks. Both MMS and Than Shwe witness the signing of five agreements concluded by the delegations.

Wednesday - Flies early morning to Hyderabad to visit the Tata Nano factory.

Thursday - Departs to Burma.

Comment: I did not see the PM make an exception to protocol and receive Than Shwe. He did meet him one on one. You know, symbolism has a lot of gravitas to both parties: US and Burma. We still seem cautious in certain matters, even if many would just be assured by the signals (both said and unsaid).
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2) I am mostly keen on the contents of the "Treaty on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters" signed by PC and U Nyan Win.
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India, Vietnam agree to firm up defence ties Linky

Gen. Singh, marking the first visit to Vietnam by an Indian Army Chief in over a decade, also met his counterpart there, Deputy Chief of General Staff Pham Hong Loi, for talks on follow-up action. Two areas spotted for immediate cooperation were training of military personnel and dialogue between experts on strategic affairs on both sides.
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Defence Minister A. K. Antony is expected to visit Vietnam in October to participate in the first-ever regional meeting of political leaders in the defence field.