New Delhi: During a closed-door meeting on Myanmar in the Security Council, India on Wednesday condemned the violence in the Southeast Asian nation, where pro-democracy protestors have had to face the brunt of the crackdown from security forces since the military coup on February 1.
The United Kingdom had called for an urgent meeting of the Council on Myanmar after over 100 civilians were killed on Saturday – the single highest daily death count during the month-long protests. Till now, around 520 people have lost their lives.
Briefing Council members, UN Special Envoy on Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener said that “a bloodbath is imminent”.
“We have stood by too long as patterns of human rights violations and most serious international crimes committed by the Myanmar military have reoccurred,” she said, according to a statement issued by the UN. “This Council must consider potentially significant action that can reverse the course of events in Myanmar.”
While the meeting was closed, India’s permanent representative to the UN, T.S. Tirumurti, posted the essence of his remarks on social media. He tweeted that India condemned the violence (though it is not clear if India identified and condemned the perpetrators of that violence during the council’s deliberations), and condoled the loss of lives while urging maximum restraint in Myanmar.
The Indian embassy had in February tweeted “heartfelt condolences to families and loved ones of those deceased”. “We would urge all to exercise restraint and resolve issues through dialogue in a peaceful manner,” it added.
So far, India had not issued a standalone statement on the violence perpetrated by the Tatmadaw or condemned the excessive use of force by the regime. The country is a party to the March 24 resolution of the United Nations Human Rights Council that expressed concern at violent acts by the Myanmar armed forces against peaceful demonstrations.
In New York, Tirumurti reiterated India’s stance of calling for the release of detained leaders. He also emphasised that India was steadfastly committed to “democratic transition”.a
Stating that the “hopes and aspirations” of the people must be met, Tirumurti noted that the situation had to be resolved peacefully, which required “greater engagement” with Myanmar. It was a message to the US-led Western bloc from India, that putting more sanctions on Myanmar will not reverse the current crisis.
The Council has issued two statements on Myanmar so far, both of them adopted with consensus.
However, with the rising death toll from the street protests, there is also clamour for the Security Council to take more decisive action.
After the March 27 violence, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said that the military crackdown was “unacceptable” and should be met with a “firm, unified and resolute international response”.
The US’s envoy to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, indicated that the US was willing to take more punitive actions, but added, “and we need our allies and regional partners to do more, too”. “We need added pressure to stop violence and respect the people’s will, especially from Burma’s neighbours.”
She also pointed out that the military’s economic partners should “take a hard look at those relationships”.
The US has been steadily escalating the level of sanctions on Myanmar, especially on the generals and state firms backed by the military. The UK and EU have followed Washington’s cue on this.
Referencing the secretary-general’s call for a unified international response, the UK’s permanent representative, Barbara Woodward, said in remarks to the media after the closed-door meeting that the “Council should play its part”.
The UK, penholder on Myanmar in the Council, was working with “colleagues in the Council and regional partners to help end this senseless violence, hold those responsible to account and secure a path back to democracy”, she added.
Woodward said that the Council had a “range of measures at our disposal”. She noted that “next steps” were being discussed within UNSC, adding that efforts were being made to “make sure that Council members were speaking in a unified voice”.
According to a senior Indian official, New Delhi considers “genuine engagement” with the Myanmar junta as the first step before considering any severe action. “We had hoped that the UN special envoy would have been in Myanmar by now, but that has not worked out till now.”
Burgener, who is Swiss, had put in some conditions for her visit, but the Myanmar government has not accepted them so far.
“ASEAN is still getting their act together. So we need to first try real engagement to see where this goes,” said the official.
While the Council has till now expressed concern about Myanmar in one voice, it will take more diplomatic manoeuvring if the UK and US are proposing to upgrade the pressure on the Myanmar government.
At the Wednesday UNSC meeting, China’s Zhang Jun stressed that punitive actions against Myanmar would not be fruitful. “One-sided pressure and calling for sanctions or other coercive measures will only aggravate tension and confrontation and further complicate the situation, which is by no means constructive,” said the Chinese envoy.
Russia did not publicly release its remarks, but its position has been clear. At a press briefing on Tuesday, Russia’s deputy permanent representative Dmitry Polyanskiy stated that Security Council should not make the situation “worse” by giving an “ultimatum” to the Myanmar military.
“But there are two sides to this coin. On the one side, by doing so, we would seem to make our position clear. On the other side, we would invite a bit of violence in that country. Because instead of asking everybody to stay calm and hold back to the constitutional norms, some countries, circles, or some media outlets are clearly inciting the protesters to continue their protest,” he said.
While the US and West have been urging sanctions and diplomatic isolation for the Myanmar junta, regional powers are reluctant to go down that road.
Vietnam, which assumes the presidency of the Council for April, stated that it condemned violence against civilians but underlined the “importance of constructive dialogue and reconciliation”.
Before the UNSC presidential statement on Myanmar, Vietnam had actively asked for the insertion of language on ASEAN’s engagement in Myanmar.
While several countries, including China and India, have publicly called on ASEAN to take the lead in diffusing the crisis, the regional body is itself a divided house.
At the March 2 informal ministerial conference, a “concerned” ASEAN called “on all parties to refrain from instigating further violence, and for all sides to exercise utmost restraint as well as flexibility”. There was, however, no joint call for the release of political prisoners.
When the Myanmar military organised the Armed Forces parade on March 27, eight countries attended as observers. India sent its military attaché, while three countries from ASEAN – Laos, Thailand and Vietnam – also marked their attendance.
Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia are at the forefront of an attempt to hold an emergency ASEAN summit on Myanmar, but there has been no agreement so far.
Meanwhile, after the US said that neighbours should step up the pressure, Myanmar’s junta-appointed foreign minister participated in the virtual ministerial conference of the regional association BIMSTEC on Thursday.
India defends participation in military parade
Indian officials, meanwhile, defended the presence of the Indian defence attaché at the military parade, asserting that all of Myanmar’s neighbours had shown up. “Out of 15 foreign military attaches, eight had gone to the parade.”
They pointed out that India had different realities vis-à-vis Myanmar, especially related to a shared border and regional geopolitics.
A senior Indian government official also pointed out that pushing the Myanmar government into a corner has not worked. “When the civilian government was there, NLD leaders had always told us that pressurising Myanmar has never helped, but rather it makes them more stubborn. This is the Bamar mentality,” said the official.
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