Burma and Bangladesh have signed an agreement for a highway linking the two countries.
Bangladeshi Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and her Burmese counterpart General Khin Nyunt today (Sunday) inked the agreement in Bangladesh's capital Dhaka, where he is on a three-day visit. The 55-kilometer road will eventually link the capitals of the two nations.
Bangladeshi government officials said the two leaders have also discussed ways to expand bilateral trade and economic ties. Trade between the two nations is about 20 million dollars per year.
Ties between the neighboring states were strained in the early 1990s -- when about a quarter of a million Muslims fled into Bangladesh from what they called persecution by Burma's military government. Relations have since improved and most of the refugees have returned to Burma under a United Nations repatriation program.