Why India courts Myanmars military junta?
By Rahul Bedi. India, 09:00 AM IST India’s continuing policy of ‘constructive engagement’ with Myanmar, even after the brutal crackdown on protesting Buddhist monks and despite pressures from the US and the UN to adopt a tougher line against the military junta, is driven exclusively by its strategic and economic interests. Opposed to Myanmar’s military administration after it seized power in 1989 and a firm supporter of Aung San Suu Kyi and her movement to restore democracy, India performed a swift U-turn in 2000 to blunt nuclear rivals China’s and Pakistan’s burgeoning defence and strategic links in that country. India is also looking at Myanmar’s vast oil and gas reserves to meet its galloping energy needs, expected to double over the next decade. ‘India has long ignored China and Pakistan’s growing influence with Burma’s military government at its peril and is now anxious to neutralise it,’ a senior Indian military official said. China and its military and nuclear ally Pakistan, the
