Nay Pyi Taw (Myanmar), Feb. 6 : Visiting Indian Vice President M. Hamid Ansari today called on the Senior General Than Shwe, Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) in Nay Pyi Taw, capital of Myanmar, on the second day of his tour.

The Vice President described his meeting with Shwe as extremely fruitful and significant during an On Board briefing to the media.

The call on meeting went beyond the scheduled time, and is being seen as a definite indicator of strengthening ties between the two countries, revealed an Indian diplomat.

New Delhi, Feb. 4 : Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari will leave on a four-day official visit to Myanmar on Thursday, leading a high-level delegation comprising Parliamentarians and businessmen.

The Vice President Ansari''s visit gains significance in terms of strengthening ties between the two countries, as India wishes to engage Myanmar on the highest-level and to intensify the process of a series of high-level reciprocal visits, a trend that commenced in recent years, said Vivek Katju, Additional secretary of the political and international organisations (PLO) here.

Jakarta - Scars and welts suffered by Myanmar's Rohingya boat people rescued by the Indonesian Navy after drifting in the sea for three weeks were consistent with their claims that they had been mistreated by Thai authorities, an Indonesian doctor said Wednesday.

At least 198 refugees belonging to Myanmar's Rohingya ethnic minority who claimed they were fleeing persecution in their military-ruled country were rescued by the Indonesian navy off the coast of westernmost Aceh province early Tuesday.

Yangon - United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari left Myanmar Tuesday after being snubbed for the second time by the country's top leadership.
Gambari departed on a Silk Air flight to Singapore Tuesday evening. He was scheduled to fly Tuesday to Naypyitaw, the military's headquarters 350 kilometres north of Yangon, but cancelled the trip for unknown reasons.

On his last trip to Myanmar in August, Myanmar's junta chief Senior General Than Shwe refused to meet Gambari, prompting opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi to also deny the special envoy an audience.

Jakarta - The Indonesian Navy on Tuesday rescued 198 boat people from Myanmar drifting off the coast of the north-western province of Aceh, an official said.

They were the second batch of boat people belonging to Myanmar's Rohingya ethnic minority to be picked up off Indonesia after 193 people were rescued early last month off Sabang island on the northern tip of Aceh.

The rescues came as the Rohingya flee impoverished, military-run Myanmar and Thailand has been accused of mistreating the migrants and casting them adrift at sea.

Yangon  - United Nations special envoy Ibrahim Gambari on Monday met Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi at a government guesthouse in Yangon, official sources said.

The meeting lasted about one hour and 20 minutes, witnesses said. The content of the talks was not immediately revealed but should be disclosed later Monday when Gambari was scheduled to meet with members of Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy, Myanmar's main opposition party.