Mandalay (Myanmar), February 07 2009: Nursing serious concerns over operations of north-eastern insurgents, India on Saturday asked Myanmar to act promptly on information about their activities in its territory as the two sides agreed on a slew of measures to jointly tackle the menace.

"We stressed the importance of timely action by Myanmar on the information given by us on the insurgents in Myanmar territory," Minister of State for Defence M M Pallam Raju told Indian journalists accompanying Vice President Hamid Ansari who arrived here on the last leg of his visit to the country.

He said while the two countries already have an intelligence-sharing mechanism, what was important was timely and effective action by Myanmar in addressing India's security concerns.

Raju, who was a member of the Indian delegation led by Ansari in the talks with Myanmar's top military generals in the last two days, said India has already helped Myanmar by improving the infrastructure on its side of the border.

The Border Road Organisation (BRO) has upgraded the road on Myanmar territory and provided them with some communication equipment, the minister said.

Ansari, who is on a four-day visit to Myanmar, met head of the country's military junta Gen Than Shwe and other top leaders to give a fresh impetus to security, trade and economic ties between the two countries.

Wrapping up two days of intensive talks with Myanmar's top leaders focussing on security and economic cooperation, Vice President Hamid Ansari arrived here today on the final leg of his visit that will have a mix of serious business and sightseeing.

Ansari will inaugurate an optical fibre link between Moreh town of Manipur bordering Myanmar and Mandalay, a bustling commercial town in northwestern part of the country whose importance from the point of business is next to Yangon.

Connectivity has been a key theme in talks between the two countries for economic cooperation.

The telecom link being executed by TCIL has been set up at a cost of seven million dollars given by the Exim Bank of India to Myanmar government.

The Vice- President will make the first call from Mandalay to Moreh tomorrow.

Ansari today visited the picturesque Mandalay Hill which houses an ancient pagoda and attended a banquet hosted by the Mayor of Mandalay city.

The Vice President will visit the Mandalay Palace and a pagoda tomorrow before returning to Delhi at the end of his four-day visit.

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