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Suharto arrives in Burma on a landm



Subject: Suharto arrives in Burma on a landmark visit (The Asian Age, 22/2/97.)

Suharto arrives in Burma on a landmark visit
The Asian Age (New Delhi), 22/2/97.

Rangoon, Feb. 21: President Suharto of Indonesia arrived here on Friday
for a landmark visit to Burma aimed at promoting bilateral ties as well
as assessing Rangoon's readiness for full membership in Asean.

President Suharto was given a 21 gun salute as he arrived for the
48-hour visit, wrapping up a tour of the three candidate members of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nation -- Burma, Cambodia and Laos. 

Asean membership would give Burma a large degree of international
credibility and bring it into the economic powerhouse family of
south-east Asia.

Senior General Than Shwe was to meet with Mr Suharto in the afternoon,
and wide-ranging talks involving other member of the military junta, the
Slate Law and Order Restoration Council, are to follow on Saturday. The
two sides are also to sign it memorandum of understanding on economic
affairs. Indonesia has made investments in Burma totalling $200 million
since the SLORC took power in 1988.

It is the Indonesian leader's first visit to Burma since 1974. He is
scheduled to leave for home on Sunday. The timing of Burma's admission
to Asean has been a main focus of interest, heightened by a Cambodian
official's statement during the Suharto visit on Tuesday that Phnom
Penn's entry into Asean was "confirmed" for July Asean said at a summit
last November that Burma, Cambodia and Laos would be Admitted together
but, apparently to short-circuit western criticism of Burmese
membership, did not specify when.

Recently in a meeting with Asean slates in Singapore, European foreign
ministers again voiced concerns about Burma's human rights record. Asean
initiated a "constructive dialogue" with Burma in the view that greater
exposure to the outside world would help bring about change. (AFP)