Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday held talks with Myanmar's democracy icon in Yangon and handed over to her an invitation from Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi to visit India which has a "long-standing association" with her. Dr Singh, the first Indian prime minister to visit Myanmar in quarter of a century, and Suu Kyi held discussions for 45 minutes.
During their meeting which took place on the last day of the Prime Minister's historic visit, Dr Singh handed over to the Nobel laureate an invitation from Sonia Gandhi to visit India to deliver the next Jawaharlal Nehru memorial lecture.
Accepting in principle the invite, Suu Kyi said "I hope I will be able to take up the invitation not before too long".
Emerging from the meeting at the Sedonia Hotel Suu Kyi recalled the close association she and her parents had with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and his family.
"India and Burma have been friends not only because of geographical proximity but also because of shared values, heritage and fight for independence," she said.
Suu Kyi, who has strong personal ties with New Delhi where she studied in Convent of Jesus and Mary School and Lady Sriram College in early 1960s, said "I particularly remember Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru".
"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," she said.
Dr Singh said "I have invited her (Suu Kyi) to visit India." "I sincerely hope that she will find it possible to visit India soon," he said. "In his context, I have handed over to her the invitation letter to deliver the Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Lecture which is a very prestigious lecture. Mrs Sonia Gandhi has written an invitation letter to Madam (Suu Kyi) to do us the honour to deliver this lecture in India."
This article is posted by pressbrief.in
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