Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein arrived in the capital, Jakarta, for talks with President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, said presidential spokesman Dino Pati Jalal.

Gen Thein Sein was accompanied by nine industry heads and five government ministers.

With a population of 235 million, Indonesia is the largest country in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, to which Myanmar also belongs. After Indonesia, Gen Thein Sein was to travel to Singapore.

The grouping's members have generally good relations but faced tensions earlier this year when thousands of Muslim refugees, known as Rohingyas, fled Myanmar by boat. The Indian navy said hundreds were believed to have drowned after the Thai navy pushed out to sea those who landed on Thailand's shores.

Their plight was a possible topic of discussion, although no details of the meetings were expected to be made public.

Mr Yudhoyono's government will ask for an update on Myanmar's progress toward holding democratic elections, the Foreign Ministry said.

Gen Sein's visit comes more than three years since Mr Yudhoyono visited Myanmar and two weeks after a regional meeting of Southeast Asian leaders in Thailand. -- AP