India has turned blind eye to Myanmar movement, feels activist

One of the many supporters of Aung Sang Suu Kyi who is waging a lonely battle for greater rights in Myanmar, activist and author Ma Thida feels that despite being the world's largest democracy, India has turned a blind eye to its eastern neighbour.

As a doctor and activist, who spent months locked in a prison where she came very close to death, Ma Thida finds the "ignorance" of the Indian government and its people towards Myanmar as a sad experience.

In Jaipur to attend the Literature Festival, she talked about her country's expectations from India, and how she feels the rich resources in Myanmar turned out to be a "bad luck" for its people.

"India, especially the Indian government, has turned out to be very ignorant about what's going on in Myanmar," she told PTI in an interview.

"Besides the government, even the Indian media has also been ignorant, in the sense they have failed to inform their people about the situations in their immediate neighbourhood," she said.

The writer said given the two countries' similar colonial past, Myanmar has a lot of expectations from India, but "despite having the potential of becoming a world power one day, India has never come out as a leader in the region, in many ways, not only political, but also economically, and its sad and disappointing."