Indian civil society endorse democracy in Myanmar

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India and Myanmar (Burma) go for wider diplomatic and strategic relationship in the recent days, but the civil societies of the largest democracy prefer a democratic regime at Nay Pie Taw. The Indian vice president’s visit has been welcomed..
CJ: Nava Thakuria , 3 days ago Views:352 Comments:1
INDIA AND Myanmar (Burma) may go for wider diplomatic and strategic relationship in the recent days, but the civil societies of the largest democracy prefer a democratic regime at Nay Pie Taw. The endorsement of Indian civil society groups has come more visible at the time of vice president M Hamid Ansari’s visit to Myanmar.

As Ansari has arrived in Yangon (Rangoon), the former capital of Myanmar with a four-day official visit to the military-ruled country, civil society groups of India come forward for the cause of democracy in the Southeast Asian country. A memorandum has been prepared for submission to the Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, where it is observed that India being the largest democracy “Needs to look beyond the bilateral relations and ’bring in the values of peace, justice and human rights in Myanmar.”



Mentionable that Ansari left for Myanmar, on February 5, with a delegation representing Indian diplomats and businessmen. The first Indian high-level official to visit Myanmar in 2009, Ansari had already gone for wide range of discussion with his counterpart Senior General Maung Aye in the context of increasing engagement between two neighboring countries.

Various Indian civil society groups welcome the goodwill trip of Ansari in the context of the long standing historic and cultural relationship between the two countries. The role of India in promoting and restoring peace, harmony, fraternity and stability in the region is also appreciated by the groups in the memorandum.

"We are aware that Myanmar is one of India’s critical strategic partner and biggest neighbour, which shares 1650 kms border. And we appreciate the present relations of the two governments which have reached to the utmost level since a Treaty of Friendship was signed in 1951," said in the memorandum.

New Delhi’s decision to promote Myanmarese people’s capacity, knowledge, and experience and technology know-how by signing series of bilateral MoUs was meant for the development of bilateral and regional relations, it added. Forwarded by Myanmar Centre Delhi, the memorandum is supposed to be submitted to the president and the External Affairs minister of India too.
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Meanwhile, in an official statement during a banquet hosted by the Myanmarese Senior General Maung Aye in Rangoon on February 5, Ansari had declared that the economic engagement between the two countries had expanded to embrace both the public and private sectors. Several positive developments had taken place recently in the areas of trade, investment, power, oil and natural gas, manufacturing, IT and the vocational training sectors, he added.

The memorandum stated that the people of India feel disturbed that New Delhi ’being the world’s largest democracy and a country that continually believes in the virtue of ethics, democracy, equality and human rights’ had ignored its initiative ’to promote its own ideologies to the Myanmarese people’, who had been desperately yearning for their goal for more than two decades.

The memorandum concluded urging New Delhi to bring in Indian humanism and democracy system to the people of Myanmar and assist them in their struggle for restoration of peace, human rights and democracy. It also appealed the union government to review the foreign policy in favor of peaceful transition of Myanmar in to a democratic state.
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