YANGON, Oct 22: Myanmar junta leader Senior General Than Shwe will go ahead with a historic visit to India that had been in doubt after a political shake-up in Yangon, state media reported on Friday.

The New Light of Myanmar said Than Shwe and his wife would pay a state visit to India in "the near future". It gave no dates, but diplomats said Than Shwe was due to leave for New Delhi on Sunday, the first visit by a head of state from the former Burma in a quarter-century.

This week's purge of Prime Minister Khin Nyunt could cast a pall over the trip to India, which has been pursuing closer ties with Yangon despite vocal domestic opposition to the junta. Khin Nyunt was sacked on Tuesday. -Reuters