India-Burma Relations Hitting a Dead End?

India’s interests would be better served by joining the ranks of the international community seeking to encourage political reforms and respect for human rights in Burma rather than continuing down the current path. Most importantly, India should immediately suspend military assistance to Burma and instead join global efforts to seek an arms embargo on Burma. 

Furthermore, India should press for conditions that will allow free and fair elections in Burma, including for representatives of the country’s ethnic minorities. The Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand have all spoken out in recent weeks on the need for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners in Burma. India also needs to state its position publicly.

Finally, India should end its current silence on gross rights abuses taking place in Burma, and support international attempts to seek an independent commission of inquiry into the most severe violations of human rights and humanitarian law in Burma.

Such a reorientation in India’s Burma policy needs to be accompanied by a similar shift in Delhi’s policy towards the northeastern states. Indeed, Delhi would be better served by allowing a greater international humanitarian presence, especially by UN agencies, in the Northeast, and by joining regional initiatives to combat non-traditional security threats.

Without a significant shift in India’s Burma policy, India-Burma relations could soon be hitting a dead end. What is India waiting for?

Camilla Buzzi is a Ph.D candidate at the Centre for Human Rights Studies and Social Development, Mahidol University, Thailand. Åshild Kolås is a researcher at the International Peace Research Institute, Oslo (PRIO), Norway, and leader of PRIO’s Conflict Resolution and Peace-building program.