It does not meet the objective of keeping China under check for which the next 바카라Quad바카라 Summit is meeting later this year.
India may have had legitimate reasons for joining China and 34 others on June 18 in abstaining at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) when a resolution calling upon the Myanmar Military to reverse its suppression of democracy was put to vote. However, it does not meet the objective of keeping China under check for which the next 바카라Quad바카라 Summit is meeting later this year.
The non-binding resolution had asked the Military to stop violence against civilian protestors and to implement the five-point consensus reached by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in April.
UN discussions started with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres바카라s speech: 바카라We cannot live in a world where military coups become a norm. It is totally unacceptable.바카라 Amnesty International, quoting the 바카라Assistance Association for Political Prisoners바카라 had said that the junta바카라s forces had killed more than 860 protesters since the Feb. 1 coup.
One of India바카라s reasons for abstention was that that the resolution was tabled hastily without 바카라adequate consultations with neighbours or regional countries바카라. However, there was a report on May 28 that nine ASEAN nations (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) had proposed to Liechtenstein, which had drafted the resolution for 바카라watering down바카라 the resolution removing 바카라a call for an arms embargo바카라 so that it would get 바카라unanimous support of the 193 member UN바카라.
Consultations were also reportedly held by the core group of 50 states sponsoring the resolution before it was introduced. It is not known why India could not take part in these consultations which were going on since May.
After the vote, Amnesty International criticised four ASEAN states (Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand) for failing to support the resolution even after agreeing to the modified text. It said: 바카라For eight weeks, the ASEAN has failed to implement its own 24 April consensus statement or even name its special envoy. The ASEAN has now failed to take a united stand for the release of arbitrary detainees and against the flow of arms to Myanmar바카라.
Myanmar Coup leader General Min Aung Hlaing바카라s defiant reaction to this resolution was to fly to Moscow on 20 June to attend the 바카라Moscow Conference on International Security바카라 from June 22. The Irrawaddy said that Moscow is Naypyidaw바카라s second biggest arms supplier after China. This is his second foreign visit. The first was to attend the ASEAN Jakarta Summit in April.
Was India바카라s abstention guided by Prime Minister P.V.Narasimha Rao바카라s 바카라Pragmatic Policy바카라 of engaging with Myanmar as laid down in the early 1990s? If so, it is bad strategy now. At that time, our Northeast was boiling through the leadership efforts of Nagas (Isak Chishi Swu and Thuingaleng Muivah) who were trying to strangulate India with their contacts with China and Pakistan. They were also attempting to form a joint front with ULFA, Garos, Dimasas, Hmars, Zomis and Assam Muslim Liberation Tigers to ignite local insurgencies, using upper Myanmar as their base. That situation does not exist now.
A study of history reveals the validity of the 19th century French journalist Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr바카라s adage 바카라plus ca change plus ce바카라st la même chose바카라 (The more things change, the more they stay the same). China was the factor even in 1885 when Viceroy Lord Dufferin warned King Thibaw, the last ruler of the Kingdom of Ava in Upper Burma that his foreign relations should be placed under British empire바카라s control. This led to the Third Anglo-Burmese War (November 1885) which resulted in annexing Upper Burma as part of the British Empire. The lower Burma was already annexed in 1853 after the Second Anglo-Burmese War.
As Sudha Shah, author of a fascinating book 바카라The King in Exile바카라 had said in her essay in 2016: 바카라The kingdom바카라s proximity to a new and very important trading partner, China, and to the jewel in its crown, India, made Britain regard the kingdom of Ava as a defence zone바카라바카라.
China was allowed to come close to our border when Burmese Prime Minister U Nu and General Ne Win signed a border treaty in 1961 with the Communist China, thereby allowing joint operations against the Kuomintang rump hiding on their Northern borders to prevent them to open a second front besides Taiwan against Beijing.
(The writer is a columnist and author)