Nay Pyi Taw, May 28 (IANS) With Myanmar opening up to democratic transformation, India and the Southeast Asian state Monday decided to forge links between their think-tanks.

The need for building academic linkages was underscored in two pacts signed after wide-ranging talks between the leaders of the two countries in the Myanmarese capital.

A memorandum of understanding on cooperation between the Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies and the Indian Council of World Affairs and another MoU to establish linakges between the Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies and the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses were among a dozen pacts that were signed.

The two leaders also welcomed the formalization of contacts between Indian and Myanmar think tanks and academic institutions and urged scholars to participate actively and exchange views in academic events being held in either country, a joint statement said.

The academic and scholarly links will go a long way in bridging the knowledge gap between India, the world's largest democracy, and Myanmar, which has shed decades of isolation to embrace democratic reforms in an incremental fashion.