FROM THE DVB NEWSROOM
India’s Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar met with regime Foreign Minister Than Swe in Bangkok on July 16. The two were attending the Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit. They reportedly discussed the stalled India-Burma-Thailand Highway and the need for peace and stability along its 1,600-km-long shared border.
Jaishankar told Than Swe that India is concerned about the humanitarian situation in Burma and proposed “people-centric initiatives aimed to address the pressing challenges.” Over 60,000 people from Chin State have sought refuge in India from the military’s attacks since the 2021 coup. Airstrikes have been reported near the Indian border. Politicians in India have blamed armed groups from Burma for ethnic violence in Manipur State that has killed over 100 people since May.
Jaishankar reaffirmed India’s support for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ (ASEAN) efforts to solve Burma’s political crisis. “India supports the democratic transition process in Myanmar and highlights the need for return of peace and stability. We will closely coordinate our policy with ASEAN in this regard,” he tweeted.
India has openly engaged with the military regime in Naypyidaw and backed a Thai-led initiative to hold informal talks in parallel to ASEAN chair Indonesia’s attempts at resolving the crisis. To support Bangkok’s diplomatic efforts, India hosted a meeting with regime officials on April 25 in Delhi. Representatives from Bangladesh, Thailand, China, Laos, Cambodia, and Indonesia attended. India sent a delegation to the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia July 11-12.
