Aung San Suu Kyi to meet Manmohan Singh today

New Delhi: Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi who is on a landmark visit to India will meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today in New Delhi.

Suu Kyi, who was a student in New Delhi in the 1960s where her mother served as an ambassador, is paying her first visit to India in 25 years, most of which were spent under military house arrest.

Singh himself visited Myanmar in May to try to strengthen trade links and counter the influence of regional rival China. The two governments signed 12 agreements covering an array of issues including security, trade and transport.

India shares a 1,643 kilometre (1,021 mile) with its northeastern neighbour Myanmar and the two former British colonies have a long-shared history.

Suu Kyi’s father General Aung San — regarded as Myanmar’s independence hero — was a personal friend of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. His daughter is to deliver the prestigious Nehru memorial lecture later Wednesday.

After meeting Suu Kyi in May and inviting her to visit, Singh said India was “very proud of our long-standing association with her and members of the family”.

Suu Kyi’s release, last year’s end to military rule and the prospect of nationwide elections in 2015 have enabled Myanmar to shed its pariah status in the West and US President Barack Obama is due to visit next week.

Myanmar’s military-backed President Thein Sein has vowed to put the economy at the centre of a new wave of reforms following the dramatic political changes.

But in an eve of visit interview with The Hindu newspaper, Suu Kyi cautioned India against being overly optimistic.

Suu Kyi acknowledged that businesses were keen to tap the opportunities across India’s eastern border in competition with Chinese counterparts but added that “investment has to be done in the right way”.

During the four-day trip, Suu Kyi is also due to visit parliament and inspect rural development projects.

On Friday she will visit the Lady Shri Ram college in New Delhi, where she graduated with a degree in politics.

Suu Kyi last visited India in 1987 when she travelled to Simla to join her husband Michael Aris, who was pursuing Himalayan studies at an institute in the picturesque hill station.