New Delhi:

India and the US have agreed to remain in contact as well as exchange assessments of the situation in Myanmar following the military coup, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Friday.

MEA Spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said at a media briefing that developments in Myanmar were discussed during the telephone conversations between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.

He said India believed that the rule of law and the democratic process must be upheld in Myanmar.

“We believe that the rule of law and the democratic process must be upheld. As immediate neighbours with close cultural and people-to-people ties as well as relations strengthened by exchanges in trade, economy, security and defence,” Mr Srivastava said.

“We are closely monitoring developments in that country. We will remain engaged with all concerned on this issue,” he added.

Last week, Myanmar’s military grabbed power in the coup against the civilian government and imposed a state of emergency after detaining Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD).

The country witnessed massive protests in the last few days against the February 1 coup.

On Wednesday, Mr Biden announced a series of sanctions on the military leaders of Myanmar for overthrowing the NLD government in the coup.

“Recent developments in Myanmar were discussed during the telephone conversations between President Biden and Prime Minister Modi on February 8 and the External Affairs Minister and his US counterpart Secretary Blinken on February 9,” Mr Srivastava said.

“India and the US have agreed to remain in contact and exchange assessments on the situation,” he said.