By IANS
New Delhi : As the military junta stepped up its crackdown on the largest pro-democracy protests in Myanmar in nearly two decades, India Wednesday broke its silence and called for “broad-based and inclusive political reform” in that country.
New Delhi also hoped that “all sides will resolve their issues peacefully through dialogue”.
“The government of India is concerned at and is closely monitoring the situation in Myanmar. It is our hope that all sides will resolve their issues peacefully through dialogue,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Navtej Sarna said in response to a question on the crisis in Myanamar where thousands of monks have descended on the streets to press demand for a return of democracy in the southeast Asian country.
“India has always believed that Myanmar’s process of political reform and national reconciliation should be more inclusive and broad-based,” he said.
At least four people, including three Buddhist monks, were killed Wednesday near Myanmar’s holiest shrine Shwedagon Pagoda when security forces used weapons and tear-gas to disperse protesters against the military junta.
The monks’ mass protests are reminiscent of pro-democracy fervour in 1988 and poses the most serious challenge to the junta in nearly two decades.
India supported the pro-democracy movement in Myanmar in the 1980s and opened its doors to refugees fleeing the brutal crackdown in 1988, but over the years as Beijing gained leverage with the junta in Yangon and escalated its investment in oil and infrastructure sector in that country, New Delhi started engaging the junta.
India’s engagement with Myanmar, the junta’s name for the country better known as Burma, is driven by realpolitik and security considerations as it needs Yangon’s help to curb militants operating in its north-east states and vast natural gas reserves in that country.
India and Myanmar signed three agreements for deep exploration oil blocs during the visit of Petroleum Minister Murli Deora Sunday. New Delhi has pledged $150 million for gas exploration in Myanmar.
The accords on production-sharing contracts were signed between the state-run ONGC Videsh Limited (OVL) and the Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise.
The US and Indonesia, among other nations, have urged India to use its clout to press the junta in Myanmar to shore up its human rights record.