Guest contributor
Shalini Perumal
History has rarely been kind to those who trade human rights for a seat at a dictator’s table.
The arrival of Indian Minister of State (MoS) Kirti Vardhan Singh in Yangon this week to attend the inaugural ceremony of Min Aung Hlaing as President marks a new “milestone” in Indian foreign policy.
As Singh stepped off the plane to be greeted by the illegal military junta’s top brass, the message from New Delhi is deafeningly clear: the “world’s largest democracy” has officially moved from cautious engagement to the active legitimization of a junta that seized power in a bloody 2021 coup.
Are we truly surprised anymore? The trajectory of New Delhi’s support for the junta has been trending toward this moment for years, sacrificing democratic principles at the altar of “pragmatic” realpolitik.
The ceremony Kirti Vardhan Singh is attending is the culmination of the sham electoral process held from December 28, 2025 to January 25, 2026.
These elections were widely condemned by the international community as a farce. Major opposition parties, including the National League for Democracy (NLD), were dissolved; their leaders remain in prison or exile.
By sending a high-ranking minister to the inauguration, New Delhi isn’t just maintaining diplomatic channels; it is providing the junta with the international seal of approval it desperately craves to combat its status as a global pariah.
India’s embrace of the junta in Naypyidaw is a calculated betrayal of democratic values, representing the final collapse of its once moral high ground.
While India was a vocal supporter of pro-democracy forces in Myanmar in the early 1990s, the current trajectory reveals a chilling indifference to human life.
This decay has been fueled by the rise of a chauvinistic Hindu nationalism under the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whose India First ideology has effectively weaponized security to mask a blatant disregard for international law and human rights.
By framing universal human rights as mere “Western impositions,” the BJP-led government has created a vacuum of accountability, prioritizing cold, civilizational posturing over the lives of those being slaughtered across the border.
This isn’t just “pragmatism”—it is active complicity. While the world watched in horror and imposed sanctions following the 2021 coup, New Delhi shamefully chose a calibrated response that ensured the blood-stained military remained well-equipped.
By continuing to supply dual-use technology and military hardware—including sonar systems and radar equipment—India has effectively underwritten the brutal junta’s ability to wage war on its own people.
As airstrikes decimate civilian villages nationwide, New Delhi hides behind the hollow excuses of countering Chinese influence and securing borders. In the BJP’s narrow pursuit of regional hegemony, the Myanmar people are treated as nothing more than collateral damage in a geopolitical game.
The MoS visit to the INS Sandhayak ship in Yangon harbor is perhaps the most pointed symbol of this military-to-military embrace.
Under the cynical banner of its “MAHASAGAR” initiative, New Delhi is signaling a readiness to tether the Indian Navy to a military force accused by the United Nations of systemic crimes against humanity.
Ostensibly an acronym for Maritime Heads for Active Security And Growth for All in the Region, MAHASAGAR is marketed as a strategic initiative led by the Indian Navy, acting as a specialized outreach framework for maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). In reality, it serves as a convenient diplomatic shroud.
By framing this outreach as a “security necessity,” New Delhi provides itself with the ultimate “geopolitical bypass,” allowing it to deepen military cooperation with the junta while dodging the moral accountability usually expected of a global democracy.
What the BJP-led government hails as a strategic vision for regional growth is, for the people of Myanmar, a dark validation of their oppressors.
Under this security-first positioning, the Indian Navy is no longer just a guardian of the seas; it has become a primary instrument for legitimizing a pariah regime, proving that for the current leadership in New Delhi, growth for all does not include those fighting for their lives against a military dictatorship.
India often argues that “you cannot choose your neighbors.” While true, you can choose how you engage with them. By officially recognizing Min Aung Hlaing, India is betraying the people of Myanmar.
The vast majority of Myanmar’s youth and ethnic nationalities have rejected the junta. By siding with the generals, India is alienating the future leaders of the country.
India is also undermining global democratic solidarity. The BJP-led government is effectively carrying water for a junta that survives on brutality.
Finally, India is fuelling regional instability. A regime that rules only through fear and fire cannot provide any long-term stability.
The current visit by Kirti Vardhan Singh is the final nail in the coffin. We should not be surprised, but we should be deeply concerned about what is to come.
Shalini Perumal is a creative international development professional who has worked previously in Mae Sot, Thailand at Mae Tao Clinic, consulted for Finnish Refugee Council Myanmar, and served as a Writer/Researcher at Insight Myanmar Podcast. She is currently a freelance journalist working on a novel.
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