India’s Myanmar policy draws flak

NEW DELHI: As international pressure mounts on India to revise its Myanmar policy, Burmese students in exile here are hoping to build domestic opinion against the UPA government’s policy of wooing the military junta and refusing to condemn the crackdown on protesters in Yangon.

A demonstration is being planned on Saturday to draw attention to the Myanmar crisis. Pro-democracy sympathisers want India to speak up and force the government to review its stand.

“India’s Burma policy is a disgrace. There is no use boasting about our democracy, if we turn a blind eye to the democratic aspirations of our closest neighbours,” said George Fernandes, former defence minister and convenor of NDA.

Despite international pressure, India has not changed its stand on Myanmar. In fact, New Delhi has failed to sign in for a special session on Burma, to be convened by the UN Human Rights Council.