‘Pragmatic’ India hosts Myanmar’s military leader
NEW DEHLI:
Myanmar’s military ruler Than Shwe arrives in India on Sunday for a state visit that underscores the growing strategic ties between the world’s largest democracy and one of its most repressive regimes.
The red-carpet reception planned for Shwe, who rarely travels abroad, has been sharply criticised by human rights groups as a betrayal of India’s democratic credentials and an implicit endorsement of Shwe’s junta.
Once a staunch supporter of Myanmar’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, India began engaging the junta in the mid-1990s as security, energy and strategic priorities began to override concerns over democracy and human rights.
As well as needing the junta’s help to counter ethnic separatists operating along their remote common border, India is eyeing oil and gas fields in Myanmar and fears losing out to China in the race for strategic space in Asia.
The junta, which has ruled with an iron fist for nearly 50 years, has promised to hold Myanmar’s first elections since 1990 later this year.
Western nations have dismissed the proposed poll as a sham, and Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy is boycotting the ballot because of laws which would have forced it to expel her and other members in prison before it could participate.
A senior Indian foreign ministry official said India would stress the need for the ballot to be free and fair.
“We will also offer our assistance in conducting the elections,” the official said.
The International Federation for Human Rights wrote to Singh raising its concerns about his meeting with Shwe.
“The long list of the junta’s well-documented human rights abuses includes acts that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity under international law,” the letter said.
Maintaining relations with Myanmar’s military leaders “without due regard to universal human rights is unbecoming of the world’s largest democracy and a responsible world power,” it added.
Some Indian analysts defend what they see as New Delhi’s “pragmatic approach” that is dictated by national interest rather than moral considerations.
“Engagement is not an endorsement,” India is eager to boost its investment in gas and hydroelectricity projects in Myanmar and earlier this year its largest vehicle manufacturer, Tata Motors, agreed a deal to establish a heavy truck plant in Myanmar.
“Economics is the key driving point and India does not enjoy the luxury to only deal with regimes with the same political, social values,”
C Uday Bhaskar, director of National Maritime Foundation in New Delhi.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 25th, 2010.
Myanmar’s military ruler Than Shwe arrives in India on Sunday for a state visit that underscores the growing strategic ties between the world’s largest democracy and one of its most repressive regimes.
The red-carpet reception planned for Shwe, who rarely travels abroad, has been sharply criticised by human rights groups as a betrayal of India’s democratic credentials and an implicit endorsement of Shwe’s junta.
Once a staunch supporter of Myanmar’s democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, India began engaging the junta in the mid-1990s as security, energy and strategic priorities began to override concerns over democracy and human rights.
As well as needing the junta’s help to counter ethnic separatists operating along their remote common border, India is eyeing oil and gas fields in Myanmar and fears losing out to China in the race for strategic space in Asia.
The junta, which has ruled with an iron fist for nearly 50 years, has promised to hold Myanmar’s first elections since 1990 later this year.
Western nations have dismissed the proposed poll as a sham, and Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy is boycotting the ballot because of laws which would have forced it to expel her and other members in prison before it could participate.
A senior Indian foreign ministry official said India would stress the need for the ballot to be free and fair.
“We will also offer our assistance in conducting the elections,” the official said.
The International Federation for Human Rights wrote to Singh raising its concerns about his meeting with Shwe.
“The long list of the junta’s well-documented human rights abuses includes acts that may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity under international law,” the letter said.
Maintaining relations with Myanmar’s military leaders “without due regard to universal human rights is unbecoming of the world’s largest democracy and a responsible world power,” it added.
Some Indian analysts defend what they see as New Delhi’s “pragmatic approach” that is dictated by national interest rather than moral considerations.
“Engagement is not an endorsement,” India is eager to boost its investment in gas and hydroelectricity projects in Myanmar and earlier this year its largest vehicle manufacturer, Tata Motors, agreed a deal to establish a heavy truck plant in Myanmar.
“Economics is the key driving point and India does not enjoy the luxury to only deal with regimes with the same political, social values,”
C Uday Bhaskar, director of National Maritime Foundation in New Delhi.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 25th, 2010.