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Pressuring the generals

It is no surprise and entirely in character that the military junta in Myanmar has vowed to “march on” — refusing to change its political course in the face of increasing international pressure to halt its brutish crackdown on all opponents, and, in the latest instance, on the protesting Buddhist clergy who are close to the people. This spotlights, for the nth time, the deeply repressive and anti-democratic nature of this regime and the worsening politica l situation in the underdeveloped country, where massive but peaceful demonstrations by thousands of protesters are routinely broken up with horrifying violence by the state security forces. Among other things, the military junta has rejected international demands to release political prisoners and embark on a substantive dialogue with the leader of the opposition, Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, head of the National League for Democracy. A recent resolution of the United Nations Security Council strongly “deplored” the violence against the peaceful demonstrations; and urged the regime to create “the necessary conditions for a genuine dialogue” with Ms Suu Kyi and other parties to “achieve an inclusive national reconciliation with the direct support of the United Nations.” The U.N. special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, is on a six-nation tour in the region seeking a consolidation of pressure on the Myanmar regime from key countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) — to force it to adopt a course of national reconciliation.

For Asean, dealing with its improbable member, Myanmar, has been an exercise in incremental frustration. With sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union, and Japan not having anything like the desired effect, there have been the inevitable demands on China and India, Myanmar’s major trading partners, to adopt similar coercive approaches towards the junta, demands both countries have resisted. There can be little question that as a leading democracy India must join the international community in its efforts to pressure the Yangon regime to move urgently towards democracy and national reconciliation. While practising good neighbourliness, and taking care to ensure that its actions do not constitute an unwarranted interference in Myanmar’s internal affairs, India must not hesitate to use its growing leverage unambiguously on the side of democracy. In the larger global context, India must throw all its weight behind the U.N. good offices endeavour and consult closely with Asean, China, and the western powers to see how best to make it succeed against the odds.

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