June 3, International Herald Tribune
India coddles its despotic neighbors - Michael Vatikiotis
courtesy: www.burmanet.org

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Singapore: Isn't it time that the world's largest democracy started
behaving like one? Much as India deserves plaudits for ensuring that more
than a billion people enjoy the rights and liberty that democracy endows,
it could surely do more to promote these values in its own neighborhood.

To the north there is Nepal, where a reactionary monarchy battles a
protracted Maoist insurgency and freedom is the loser. To the east there
is Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, where an entrenched military junta
refuses to yield to elected democratic forces and, according to human
rights organizations, harshly suppresses ethnic minorities.

The rest of the free world is hammering on the Burmese generals to free
the opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi - who was educated in India - from
house arrest and speed the transition to civilian rule. But little if
anything is heard from New Delhi on this score. Instead, India is courting
the Burmese generals, offering to help build roads and pipelines. India,
which now accounts for more than a quarter of all Myanmar's exports, is
one of the few major free markets that does not impose trade sanctions on
the country.

It's a similar story in Nepal, where King Gyanendra recently sacked the
government and imposed martial law. India at first suspended arms
supplies, but quickly resumed them, citing concerns about growing Chinese
influence in the kingdom.

India is influential in both countries but chooses not to apply pressure
for political change because it puts strategic interests before
principles. "It's a difficult choice, but we have decided to engage the
junta in Yangon," says Sudhir Devare, a former Indian diplomat now a
fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore. On a
purely geopolitical level this approach is logical and pragmatic. India's
competitor in the region is China, which has no agenda for political
change in Myanmar and is helping to build naval bases on the Andaman Sea
coast facing India. Beijing is also actively courting Nepal.

Like America during the cold war, India has determined that coddling
despots is the best way to avoid losing strategic ground. Myanmar's
military leader, Than Shwe, was invited on an official visit to India in
October 2004. In order not to offend the visiting general, the Indian
government refused entry to a number of speakers invited to a
pro-democracy conference on Myanmar timed to coincide with Than Shwe's
visit.

But some question whether it is so wise for India to allow narrow
strategic interests to determine the complexion of its foreign policy. A
former Indian defense minister, George Fernandes, has said India must play
a bigger role in helping to establish a democratic government in Myanmar.

Now that India is being considered for a permanent seat on the United
Nations Security Council, it might be wise for the government in New Delhi
to consider how its democratic credentials play. Japan, which is also
seeking a seat on the Security Council, appears to have reconsidered its
engagement policy; after Aung San Suu Kyi's latest detention, in mid-2003,
Tokyo froze all financial aid to Myanmar.

The world tends to place on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations the
burden of pressuring Myanmar, which was admitted as a member state in
1997. Asean is under fire for allowing Myanmar to assume the chairmanship
of Asean this year. Yet it could be argued that rather than Asean it is
China and India, Myanmar's two biggest neighbors and trading partners,
that could bring the most effective influence to bear.

China's position is pretty clear, and also inexcusable. Beijing frequently
reminds the military leadership in Yangon that constructive political
reform is important, but insists that reform must be executed at a pace
that the generals are comfortable with, in the interests of adhering to
principles of noninterference. In other words, don't embarrass us, but
don't move so fast. But then China is no democracy.

India's economic emergence is sure to be accompanied by claims to join the
global team. The United States considers India a strategic partner and
often cites the two countries' shared democratic values as a basis for
this partnership. India, as the world's largest democracy, should join
other democracies in the struggle to promote liberty. Myanmar would be a
good place to start.

(Michael Vatikiotis is a visiting research fellow at the Institute of
Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore.)