JOIN USSecurity interests: Why India won't condemn military junta in Myanmar
“I do not want to ask you for too much. If you cannot help me, do not get involved with the terrorist warlords. It is very shameful,” a Myanmarese based in the United States tweeted, reacting to a post by the Indian embassy in Nay Pyi Taw about Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla’s visit to the neighbouring country on December 22 and 23 last.
Shringla’s visit to Nay Pyi Taw was the first high-level engagement between New Delhi and the military junta that took over power in Myanmar on February 1, 2021, overthrowing the government led by the National League for Democracy (NLD) and detaining the State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint. The foreign secretary called on Myanmar Army chief and de facto ruler senior general Min Aung Hlaing during his visit.
“This is a blatant affront to Myanmar people. Please note that the military doesn’t represent the people of Myanmar at all. Shameful, India!” another “staunch supporter” of the NLD tweeted, using the handle @AhLynn_Light. He also slammed the Indian embassy for failing to “publicly condemn military coup” and the “crimes against humanity” committed by the Tatmadaw or the Myanmar Army.
New Delhi has indeed been very cautious in its response to the military coup in Myanmar. It has been repeatedly calling for an early return to democracy in Myanmar. It also stressed the release of Suu Kyi and other political leaders and activists, whom the junta had put behind bars soon after staging the coup d'état on February 1 last year as well as over the past few months to curb widespread protests against its takeover.
It did not join the US and the European Union to respond to the coup with sanctions in Myanmar but rather pledged that it would continue its development projects in the country. India extended its support to the initiative by the Association of South-East Asian Nations to end violence and facilitate dialogue to restore peace in Myanmar.
New Delhi’s strategic interests have always been holding it back from condemning the Myanmar Army. India has since long been trying to resist China’s bid to expand its geopolitical influence in the South-East Asian nation. Even when Suu Kyi was held in detention by the military junta for 15 years between 1989 and 2010, New Delhi trod cautiously, avoiding ganging up with the western nations, which used sanctions to facilitate her release and return to democracy. It, however, did warm up to Suu Kyi after her release in 2010, led the NLD to victory in the 2015 elections and took over as the state counselor of the government. New Delhi also refrained from criticising Suu Kyi's government, when it drew flak for failing to stop the ethnic cleansing targeting the minority Rohingyas in Myanmar.
Shringla did request a meeting with Suu Kyi, who continued to be held captive in an undisclosed location and was recently sentenced to two years in prison after being convicted of one of the many charges the junta levelled against her. His request was turned down though.
Shringla reiterated New Delhi’s call for the early return of democracy in Myanmar. But soon after his visit to Nay Pyi Taw, Hlaing made it clear that he had no plan to hold elections before August 2023.
India in March 2020 gifted one of its submarines to Myanmar. It was the first submarine to be acquired by the Myanmar Navy and it signalled a success in New Delhi’s endeavours to limit the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s influence on the military establishment in the neighbouring country. But soon after Shringala’s visit, the Myanmar Navy unveiled another submarine it had received from the PLA.
Myanmar army's brutal crackdown to curb protests against its rule has triggered an influx of refugees to Mizoram and Manipur. New Delhi’s reliance on its security cooperation with Myanmar Army to deal with the insurgency in its northeastern states also limited India’s scope to call out the military leaders for atrocities and human rights violations in the neighbouring country. Shringla conveyed New Delhi’s concerns to the military regime over the recent attack that killed a commander of the Assam Rifles, his wife and his son as well as four other soldiers in Churachandpur in Manipur on November 13 last.
The attack was carried out by the militants who had sneaked into India from Myanmar. The Myanmar Army purportedly arrested some of the militants after the incident and handed them over to the security agencies of India.
New Delhi will obviously be guided by its interests in its engagement with the military junta, even if its cautious approach disappoints democracy activists in Myanmar.
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