Why India is selling weapons to Burma
In need of help against separatist fighters, India ignores a EU-US weapons ban.
from the July 23, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
In return, India agreed to initiate action on Burma's pending request for the supply of military equipment.
India is keen, the Indian official says, that "Burma be a partner like Bhutan," the only other nation that has helped India fight insurgents in the northeast.
Bhutan launched "Operation All Clear" to flush out militants active in the state of Assam in 2003. The Royal Bhutan Army launched military operations in southern Bhutan along the India-Bhutan border, shutting down as many as 30 camps and reportedly killing nearly 600 insurgents.
The other argument for sales to Burma is economic. Good ties with Burma are seen as part of New Delhi's "Look East" policy, which is intended to increase trade between India and southeast Asia and, say Indian officials, undermine rising Chinese influence in the region.
India-Burma business is brisk
Trade between India and Burma is said to have expanded from $87.4 million in 1990-91 to $569 million in 2005-06. The most ambitious of New Delhi's ventures is a link between ports on India's east and Sittwe Port in western Burma. The $100 million Kaladan Multi-Modal Transport Project is expected to provide an alternate route for transport of goods to northeast India.
It is estimated that Burma has 300 billion cubic meters of gas reserves, and India is engaged in drawing up pipeline routes to transport this gas to its northeast region. India's Gas Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL) and the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) are presently involved in this process.
The authors of the human rights report critizing the helicoptor sale note that a large-scale Burmese military offensive in northern Karen State during 2006 displaced an estimated 27,000 civilians, and destroyed over 230 villages. The Burmese Army also destroyed their food supplies and means of production, according to the International Committee of Red Cross.
The report on the sale recommends that the EU "withdraw all existing export licence authorizations and refuse any new applications for any transfers of components or technology that could be used for the ALH" and also "discontinue all future production cooperation with India that might lead to transfers of embargoed equipment to Myanmar."
The EU has not yet responded to the recommendations.
Mr. Chakma is skeptical that India's overtures to Burma will pay off. "Like all good businessmen, the [Burmese] junta sells oil to the highest bidder and not India," says Chakma. And he notes, that in a bid to continue extracting favors from India, the Burmese junta might want to keep the insurgency alive in the northeast.
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