ANKARA

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Myanmar's junta chief, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in China's northern port city of Tianjin.

The two sides discussed ways to strengthen cooperation in trade security and other areas, Modi said in a post on the US social media company X.

"Myanmar is a vital pillar of India’s Act East and Neighbourhood First Policies. We both agreed that there is immense scope to boost ties in areas like trade, connectivity, energy, rare earth mining and security," he stated.

Min has been serving as Myanmar's acting president since last month, when he lifted the emergency and appointed a new body to oversee general elections later this year.

India shares a 1,643-kilometer (1,020-mile) border with Myanmar that runs through several states.

The two countries have a free movement regime in place, which allows citizens from both countries who live within 16 kilometers (around 10 miles) of the border to cross it by producing border passes.

Thousands of people from Myanmar, which is embroiled in an internal ethnic conflict, have crossed into India to seek refuge. In addition to civilians, soldiers have also entered India.