India will welcome Burma’s top serving military general during a state visit next month in order to cement defense cooperation. Gen Min Aung Hlaing, the commander-in-chief of the Burmese armed forces, will be in India from Aug. 1-8. He is scheduled to meet Indian Defense Minister A K Antony as well as three senior Indian military representatives in New Delhi on Aug. 3. The meeting is being touted as a further attempt by New Delhi to increase relations with Naypyidaw and so counter the growing influence of China in the region.