Mizzima News

New Delhi - United Nations Special Envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi on Tuesday in a continuation of his efforts to concoct regional support for change in military-ruled Burma, a United Nations official has said.

Gambari, who is now meeting European Union leaders in Brussels, will meet Indian government officials during a three-day visit from January 29 to 31. He will be urging further support from Indian leaders in encouraging substantive dialogue between Burma's government and opposition figures, said a UN spokesperson in New Delhi.

While details of the Nigerian diplomats' scheduled meetings are yet to be confirmed, Rajiv Chandran, UN Information Officer in New Delhi, said Gambari will focus on garnering Indian support for the UN Secretary General's initiative on Burma.

Gambari, in an earlier visit to New Delhi in October 2007, said he is satisfied with the Indian response but urges India to further use its leverage on the Burmese military junta to implement changes in the country.

The UN diplomat, who following India will visit Beijing, has reportedly asked to return to Burma this month, but the ruling junta insists he will only be received come mid-April.

Since Gambari's initial visit following the military's use of violence to crackdown on protestors in late September, the junta's Liaison Minister has met four times with Burmese opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

However, nothing has materialized from the meetings and there is still no sign of a genuine process of national reconciliation, Burma's main opposition party – National League for Democracy – told Mizzima in earlier interviews