Myanmar to use Indian military aid against civilians: rights group

December 7, Agence France Presse

Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned Wednesday that India was offering military aid to Myanmar's military junta that Yangon will likely use it against civilians as it battles ethnic insurgents. The New York-based rights group said India's air force chief, Marshal SP Tyagi, offered a multimillion dollar military aid package last month during a visit to Myanmar, which has been ruled by the military since 1962.The package includes counterinsurgency helicopters, avionics upgrades of Myanmar's Russian- and Chinese-made fighter planes, and naval surveillance aircraft, HRW said.

India's army chief of staff, JJ Singh, pledged to help train Myanmar troops in special warfare tactics in early November, it said.

"It is shocking that a democracy like India would offer military assistance to Burma's (Myanmar's) brutal military dictatorship, which is likely to use that assistance against the civilian population," said Brad Adams, HRW's Asia director, using Myanmar's former name.

"The Burmese government's record shows that these weapons and special training are used as tools of repression, not of defense," said Adams.

"They are likely again to be used to attack and mistreat civilians. It is impossible to understand how the Indian government can justify this," he said Fighting involving the Karen National Union (KNU), the oldest and largest rebel force still battling the Myanmar's military regime, has escalated since February.

Tyagi's visit last month came amid improving bilateral ties, as India jockeys with China in a race to tap Myanmar's vast natural resources to fuel their growth. India is the world's second-fastest growing major economy after China.

Myanmar, which shares a 1,600 kilometer (1,000 mile) unfenced border with India, is also cooperating with New Delhi to crack down on anti-India separatist rebels based in northern Myanmar.