New Delhi, Dec 12 (NIE): India on Tuesday handed over to Myanmar the first 50 houses built by the country for the displaced minority Rohingya Muslims in the restive Rakhine province. The housing units were handed over after President Ram Nath Kovind and his Myanmar counterpart U Win Myint held delegation-level talks and decided to step up bilateral ties.

India is building 250 houses in Rakhine province as part of a developmental project.

The first batch of 50 houses was formally handed over to the Myanmar authorities on Tuesday, President Kovind’s office tweeted.

India signed a development programme for Rakhine State in Myanmar late last year which was designed to assist the Myanmar government in Rakhine State to build housing infrastructure for displaced persons, which senior Indian officials said was appreciated not just by the government of Myanmar but also by the United Nations and other agencies.

More than 700,000 minority Rohingya Muslims fled from Myanmar’s Rakhine state to neighbouring Bangladesh since August 2017 after a military crackdown, triggering a massive refugee crisis.

Kovind is currently on a three-day state visit to Myanmar, the first by a President of India in 12 years.