India: Burma’s Dishonest Neighbor (Online Editorial)

In January, India’s External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee visited Naypyidaw. Other high-ranking officials followed, notably Home Secretary V K Duggal.

Burma’s military leaders also paid visits to New Delhi. In December, Gen Shwe Mann, the regime’s senior ranking general, who is tipped to lead the armed forces, went to the Indian capital and made specific requests to buy military hardware, including spare parts and servicing for MiG-29 jet fighters.

India had supplied Burma with military hardware, including field guns and howitzers, Indian army vice-chief Lt-Gen S Pattabhiraman told the press in October. The Indian navy reportedly gave Burma two BN-2 “Defender” Islander maritime surveillance aircraft, deck-based air-defense guns and surveillance equipment.

Mukherjee said New Delhi had decided to give a favorable response to Burma’s request for military hardware because defense cooperation between the two countries had been expanded.

In a quid pro quo, India sought Burma’s continued support in preventing Indian insurgents from taking refuge across the Burma border. A number of insurgent groups, including Naga rebels fighting in India’s Northeast, are believed to have bases inside Burma.

Burma pledged to honor India’s request, and in December launched attacks on rebels along the India-Burma border. India provided support with T-55 tanks, helicopters, mortars, radar technology and other materiel ahead of the military operations. It is likely that more military cooperation and the development of special ties are on the horizon.

Aside from combating rebels and insurgents, India is also interested in trade, infrastructure projects and the energy sector. During his visit to Naypyidaw, Mukherjee also discussed the purchase of natural gas from Burma and the construction of a pipeline from Burma.

India’s state-run Gas Authority of India Ltd would like to obtain natural gas from Burma’s offshore field off Burma’s Arakan Coast, feeding it by pipeline through India’s northeast region. The Burmese regime will finally decide whether to approve such a deal in May, according to officials.

A further reason for New Delhi’s quest for better relations with Naypyidaw is its desire to counter China’s influence over Burma. China has been selling arms, frigates and other naval vessels, jet fighters and military trucks to Burma, and the Chinese have been involved in modernizing Burmese naval facilities.

The scope of Chinese involvement has definitely created anxiety and concern among politicians in New Delhi.

At the same time, New Delhi’s recent gestures and the flurry of mutual visits have rung alarm bells among Burmese activists and international observers. Immediately following the military crackdown in 1988, New Delhi openly and publicly supported Burma’s democracy movement, but nowadays such commitment could not be expected.

In the new Asian scenario, India is competing with China to accommodate the generals in Burma. Yet the generals are bound to win at this game. The close relations with both China and India now enjoyed by Burma have benefited the handful of military rulers who continue to commit crimes against their own people.

It is easy to predict the direction in which communist China wants to steer its policy with Burma, Tibet or any neighboring countries—and even with African states.

China’s support for the world’s repressive regimes is regrettable but predictable and not unexpected. New Delhi’s support for the military rulers in Burma, however, only provokes bewilderment and embarrassment.

To put it bluntly, New Delhi’s policy on Burma is morally bankrupt and pitiable. Although ranking as the world’s largest democracy, India is basing its foreign policy on self-interest and national concerns.

Mukherjee told reporters who accompanied him during his recent trip to Naypyidaw that India has to deal with the governments as they exist. Democracy is an internal affair, and India is not interested in exporting its ideology to other countries, he said.

That’s fine. But Indian officials and the ruling government should know that the Burmese people and the international community are dismayed about New Delhi’s position on Burma.

New Delhi’s self-centered Burma policy is tarnished by seeking to prolong the dictatorship in Burma. India, the world’s largest democracy, should not be seen to be exporting repression.

Sources: IRRAWADDY