Indian president’s Burma visit sends the wrong message: NCGUB

Mizzima News (www.mizzima.com)

March 7, 2006

Indian president APJ Abdul Kalam’s arrival in Burma tomorrow will send the wrong message to the military according to the exiled National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma.

NCGUB minister Dr Tint Swe told Mizzima he thought Kalam’s three-day visit would be unhelpful.

“Visiting Burma while there is continuous human rights violation and political repression under the military regime will send the wrong message,” Dr Tint Swe said.

The Indian government has said the purpose of Kalam’s visit was to promote bilateral trade with Burma and while Dr Tint Swe agreed it could have some effect on Burma’s economy, he said the high-level visit would not have a positive impact on the political situation in the country.

“I don't see [Kalam's visit] will bring anything good for the Burmese politics,” he said.
In the past few years, Indian politicians had shown a reluctance to address the lack of democracy and human rights in Burma until last week when Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh broke with tradition by discussing the issue with United States president George W. Bush.

At a joint press conference for the two leaders in New Delhi on March 2, Bush was quoted by reporters as saying, “On Burma we agreed on the deplorable state of human rights in Burma and all nations should seek the release of Aung San Suu Kyi”.

While the statement was seen by some analysts as a sign of a new Indian stance on Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi’s party the National League for Democracy has reacted cautiously telling Mizzima it was too early to tell if the new rhetoric meant Kalam might talk politics with the Burmese military.

NLD spokesman in Rangoon, Nyan Win said, “It is too early to speculate or comment on the visit.”

“We will have to wait and see whether he [Kalam] will discuss anything regarding reformation to democracy,” he said.

The relationship between Burma and India has warmed considerably in the past decade with trade, terrorism and military agreements dominating negotiations.

Though Kalam is the first Indian head-of-state to visit Burma in decades, there have been a number of high-level diplomatic exchanges between the two countries including a visit to India by senior general Than Shwe in October 2004.