New Delhi: India will invest $25 million over the next five years to develop the troubled and backward Rakhine province in Myanmar, from where over half a million Rohingya have been forced to migrate to neighbouring Bangladesh.

The decision, made during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Myanmar in November was formalized in an agreement between foreign secretary S. Jaishankar and Myanmar's social development minister U Soe Aung. 

Jaishankar met both Aung San Suu Kyi and the army chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, acknowledging the importance of the army in the Myanmar government.

India's assistance comes without any of the pressure that is being put on the Myanmar government by the west and Islamic world. 

A statement by the MEA said, "This is intended to help the Government of Myanmar achieve its objective of restoration of normalcy in Rakhine State and enable the return of displaced persons. Under this MoU, Government of India proposes to take up, among others, a project to build prefabricated housing in Rakhine State so as to meet the immediate needs of returning people. "