India welcomes Aung Suu Kyi freedom

TIA CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: India on Saturday welcomed the release of Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi by Myanmar’s military regime. It termed the release as a step towards national reconciliation.

Within hours of her release External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said : "India welcomes the release of Suu Kyi. We hope that this will be the beginning of the process of reconciliation in Myanmar,"

EAM also said that the recent elections in Myanmar were an important step in the direction of the national reconciliation process being undertaken by the military government.

"We have always encouraged them to take this process forward in a broad-based and inclusive manner. In this context, as a close neighbour of Myanmar, we are confident that the release of Suu Kyi will contribute to efforts for a more inclusive approach to political change," he said.

65-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner, Suu Kyi has been jailed or kept under house arrest for nearly 20 years.

Earlier in the Saturday Myanmar’s military government freed pro, democracy leader Suu Kyi, after her latest term of detention expired.

Soon after the release, a smiling Suu Kyi, wearing traditional attire, come out of her compound amid cheers from thousands of her jubilant supporters

She thanked the well-wishers and asked them to gather on Sunday at the party headquarters.