India and Burma: Working on their relationship
covering burma and southeast asia
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India and Burma: Working on their relationship


By The Irrawaddy MARCH, 1999 - VOLUME 7 NO.3


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Both they and Burmese of Indian origin now settled in India have been partly behind the push for improved ties. Another factor, of greater concern to India, is the insurgency in the northeastern part of the country, which shares a thousand kilometer long border with Burma. Although the Burmese government denies giving the rebels any form of support, it is well-known that many Indian insurgent groups have found a safe haven in Burma. Naga insurgent groups from India have long had bases in remote areas of upper Sagaing Division of Burma, and officials from the northeastern state of Assam claimed last October that militants from the United Liberation Front of Assam have also been taking shelter in Burma. It is also a known fact that arms and ammunition for these groups come from and through Burma. The Indian government is thus understandably anxious to get cooperation from Burmese authorities to "contain" the insurgency in northeast. The third factor that explains Indian policy makers’ moves to form closer ties with Burma is China’s growing influence on the country, both politically and economically. China exported US$ 1.4 billion worth of military equipment to Burma by the beginning of 1993, including light and medium tanks, APCs, F-7 jet fighters, Hainan class patrol vessels, arms and ammunition. In June 1998, Indian Defence Minister Mr George Fernandes informed the Indian Parliament that China has been assisting Burma in installing surveillance and communication systems on some of its islands in the Bay of Bengal. Rangoon has denied that it has any military pact or understanding with Beijing. Policymakers in New Delhi also worry that the influx of cheap Chinese goods through Burma to northeastern India will undermine India’s national commercial interests. But not everyone in India shares the views of the country’s political pundits. Mr Deenadayalan, head of an Indian nongovernmental organization in Delhi, expressed anger over the current government’s policy on Burma. He said, "We know that any state for the matter for its own survival has used many bogeys and many excuses. And the China bogey is another bogey that the India government is using. We always say that we need to find political solutions to the problems of the northeast insurgency. Because these are political issues. We cannot think in terms of military intervention and military solution to a political issue." "If the relationship between the two countries is going to benefit the majority of people in Burma and India, I support it. If it does not, I oppose the growing relationship between the two countries," said Mr C.P. Prabakar who worked for the Burmese Language Service of All India Radio from 1966 to 1992. The dilemma Indian policy makers face and will continue to face is that there is widespread support and sympathy for Aung San Suu Kyi and the Burmese pro-democracy movement in India. This is evident from the fact that India conferred the Jawaharlal Nehru Peace Award for International Understanding upon Aung San Suu Kyi in 1995. On August 8, 1998, at a joint meeting in New Delhi to mark the tenth anniversary of the 8-8-88 uprising, six major Indian political parties reaffirmed their support for the pro-democracy movement in Burma. Seventy-five Members of Parliament from various political parties signed a petition supporting the NLD’s call to convene the elected parliament in Burma. Mr V. P. Dutt, a well-known Indian foreign policy commentator, in his recently published book "India’s Foreign Policy in a Changing World," remarked that "India’s dilemma was obvious. The general sympathy was with the movement for democracy . . . On the other hand, the military regime seemed to be firmly in the saddle. An influential section in the foreign establishment believed that there were many important issues that needed continual sorting out and that India must have normal relations with whosoever was in power in Burma . . . In fact this became the general thrust of India’s Burma policy." However, Dr. Tint Swe, South Asian Affairs Minister of the exiled National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma (NCGUB), rejected the notion of the "military government being in firm control" in the country. "The people are with democracy and the National League for Democracy. They are waiting for the right opportunity. Burmese people have shown on many occasions in the past like the 8-8-88 movement or the 1990 elections that they revolted wholeheartedly when there was a right opportunity." The growing relationship between Burma and India is a source of worry to Burmese pro-democracy activists based in India. In 1997, 11 Burmese army defectors who joined with pro-democracy groups based on the Indo-Burma border were secretly deported by Indian military intelligence agents. A Burmese student activist who was a UNHCR-recognized refugee was also included in the deportation.


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