Wednesday, 08 February 2012 11:39 Mizzima News
After talking with CIA director David Petraeus in Thailand on Tuesday, Thai Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul told reporters that Petraeus said he would “definitely go Burma this year,” the NYT quoted Surapong as saying.
The visit is the latest signal that relations between the U.S. and Burma, which is emerging from years of isolation from the West, have reached a newer, productive stage, reflecting the decision of the Obama administration to engage the newly elected government.
Analysts said the U.S. is rapidly sending signals on multiple levels that serve to support the reformist in the Burmese government and the military.
In December, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton met with leaders of Burma, saying that the U.S. would reciprocate any concrete moves toward democracy with proportionate responses. The U.S. has said that it will now appoint an ambassador to Burma, in recognition of the positive steps taken in recent months.
Analysts say that Burma’s location between India and China is seen as a strategic location to check the rising influence of China, and as a lucrative economic frontier poised for increased investment from the West.
An American official in Bangkok, who requested anonymity, told the NYT that Petraeus’s visit to Burma originated because “Secretary Clinton asked him to travel to Burma later this year.”
Three teams of top-level American officials have visited Burma in recent months. Local analysts said the visit by the CIA director signifies a more involved military-political relationship, which is desired by Burma as a way to balance off relations between China and the U.S. Prior to the 1980s, Burma and the U.S. had established military and intelligence cooperation, until the former junta launched a crackdown on demonstrations for democracy and killed and jailed thousands of Burmese.
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