UN envoy seeks concrete action on Myanmar

NEW DELHI: Seeking concrete action with regard to bringing about democracy in Myanmar, UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari on Tuesday asked India to act in this direction.

Gambari, who met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh earlier in the day, said he had conveyed a message from UN Secretary General Ban ki Moon with regard to early solution to the problem in Myanmar.

"Theoretically, all of us can do more," he said when asked about his expectations from India in resolving the crisis in Myanmar.

He said he expects India to continue to encourage the authorities in Yangon to work with the United Nations to achieve the common objective of peaceful, stable and prosperous Myanmar that embarks on a national reconciliation process.

Gambari said he was 'very satisfied' by India's response and stressed on the need for 'qualitative results' for accelerated democratisation process.

The special UN envoy will visit China next as a part of his six-nation tour to urge Asian countries to take lead in resolving the crisis in Myanmar in the wake of enhance sanctions from the US and the European Union.

Praising China for its efforts in Myanmar, he said 'China has been quite helpful to the secretary general and to me personally by getting consent of the government of Myanmar for my last visit during the crisis and also to allow to me stay longer. I am going to Beijing to acknowledge that.'

Gambari said he was counting on China and others to work with the Government of Myanmar.