India and Thailand's foreign ministers have arrived in Burma for a historic meeting with their Burmese counterpart. India's Jaswant Singh and Thailand's Surakiart Sathirathai arrived together from Bangkok. They joined Burma's Win Aung to discuss economic co-operation between the three countries.
But the main item on the agenda for Saturday's formal talks is a concrete proposal to link the three countries with a super highway.
Regional ties
Burma's Military Intelligence chief, Lt Gen Khin Nyunt, met the two foreign ministers at the start of their official two-day visit on Friday. This is a measure of how important Rangoon sees the potential tripartite co-operation between the three countries.
The Burmese military regime has been anxious to improve relations with Delhi for sometime as they see in India a major economic power now. For India it is equally important as Delhi has been increasingly concerned of what they see as growing Chinese influence in this strategically positioned country nestled between South Asia and South East Asia.
Indian officials say they see Burma as a bridge between the two regions and that it was extremely important for India to strengthen their ties with Burma as part of the government's Look East policy.
Thai concerns
Thailand is anxious to improve its bilateral relations with Burma for its own reasons. The illicit drug trade, the trafficking of people, the massive numbers of illegal Burmese workers in Thailand and ethnic insurgents, all of which can only be resolved with Rangoon's support.
Thailand too has adopted a Look West policy, at least as far as India and sees important economic advantages in bolstering their trading relationship with Delhi, especially in the fields of computer and satellite technology.
The main purpose of the summit on Saturday though is to show the strength of the political commitments all the three had in linking the countries through a major road network.
Super highway
The actual work to build the road that will link the three countries through the major urban centre at Mandalay in northern Burma has already started.
The Thais have already agreed to fund the road link between Mandalay and their border town of Mae Sai, while the Indians have actually started work on a road link from India's north east to Mandalay.
Much of that road is now being built and according to local residents it will cut the travel time from days to hours. When the link is complete all the three countries hope to see a major increase in their trading relationship. But there are fears that improved communication will also increase the trafficking of drugs and people, something all the three countries want to stop.