Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Myanmar next week and discuss the exodus of the Rohingya ethnic minority with Aung San Suu Kyi's government, the foreign ministry said Friday. The two-day visit comes as renewed violence in Myanmar's Rakhine state forces thousands of Rohingya Muslims to seek refuge in neighbouring Bangladesh, with many drowning as they attempt to cross the border river in makeshift boats.
The stateless ethnic minority are reviled and accused of being illegal immigrants in Myanmar, with thousands fleeing to Bangladesh and on to other countries including India, which this month announced plans to deport some 40,000 Rohingya from the country. Modi will arrive in the capital Naypyidaw on Tuesday on his way back from China where he will be attending the BRICS summit, which also includes Russia, Brazil and South Africa.
"We will be discussing how India can help them in addressing the situation that is prevailing in the state," Sripriya Ranganathan, a senior official in India's foreign ministry, told reporters. "Lot of countries are impacted... but ultimately it's for the government of Myanmar to address the situation," she said.