India-Myanmar news and discussion

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 25 Jun 2008 20:51

Vick wrote:

Resistance is futile, India will be assimilated!

Indeed, it is only now slowing sinking in my mind after JEM's note of warning. Should I change my name to Raabert (spelling recommended by numerologist) Ramadurai from Cuddalore Shanmugasundaram so that Americans will be more friendly with me? Should I learn how to wear an expensive suit well like Musharraf and tie a proper knot on a tie? Will I be able to eat with my hands with a spoon stuck behind my ear for emergencies (try eating some rasam and rice on a banana leaf before you mock me) like I do nowadays? So many important questions run through my mind when I hear such things.

Vick · Post by **Vick** » 25 Jun 2008 21:04

Absolutely! And don't forget to buy a NY Mets hat.

JE Menon · Post by **JE Menon** » 25 Jun 2008 23:26

On a more serious note, I hope that people can see that government (whether UPA or NDA in the past) has not been entirely blind to our strategic interest. Slow? Almost certainly. Not sufficiently ambitious? Probably. Hairsplitting and constantly worrying about "log kya kahenge"? You betcha.

But all sold out traitors? or most? I have my doubts.

Look at the "KLPD" (as Kati so delicately put it

) delivered via our Burma policy. It is quite clear that once a certain line is decided upon, not much comes in the way of its pursuance. Similarly, look at the highly nuanced answers of Pranab on his return from Aus - especially the answers to the last couple of questions. It does not suggest any kind of financial dependence on any outside power, or even an ideological one. And Pranabda has been around the block a bit, he's no pushover - hell surviving Congress politics at that level is probably the toughest challenge he faces.

Now our position on Burma is a well considered one. The Americans and the Brits ARE clearly playing a not-so-innocent game there; clearly both are turning a blind eye to the activities of church groups based in the US (medical aid with a special forces touch) on the Burma-Thai border areas (IIRC). Of course, the Burmese regime does not consist of a bunch of philosopher kings. On the other hand, they are no worse than the morons on our western border, and they are certainly willing to do business. Why the FU(K should we simply act as if this resource-rich, moderately friendly, non-expansionist country does not exist next to us and cede strategic space to our eastern neighbours?

The Americans are not fools. They know and understand (at least to some extent) our compulsions vis a vis Burma. So I may not be too far off the mark when suggesting that the Americans are not averse to the idea of us building a rapport with Yangon. They get Indo-China friction as a bonus. Don't think they don't like it. And don't think they are foolish enough to think that overtly pushing in that direction will be more productive in generating said friction. No, they will play the waiting and indirect instigation game on this one.

That's fine, and that's how we should play the game too in similar circumstances. Does this mean we should not sell software to the US? Or buy their engines for our LCAs?

Profit is the motive. Power flows therefrom. You want the power? Make the profit. Or else, we can hang around whining that India is getting screwed, Hinduism is getting screwed, and blaming the Bilderberg group.

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 25 Jun 2008 23:58

Americans seem to have gotten the message when they were denied access to Myanmar during the recent cyclone, and knowing the USA, they do not give up on their long-term interests, and destabilizing Myanmar definitely seems high on their list. This is surely connected with their anxiousness about the rise of China and India down the line, when not having a foothold/client state of Paki kind in Myanmar would mean an inability to project their power in Myanmar. Making Myanmar a real democracy is the ideal solution, but getting there from here requires that the people of Myanmar start looking at India as a friend....before India can use that influence down the line.

It seems to me that the GoI has just embarked in the past few years (while the UPA was in power) to get the neighbourhood under control without over fanfare. For right now, the GoI's seems to be according highest priority to getting the economies of the NE states up and running to the level of the southern states, since the effectiveness of any further offensive/defensive moves will depend on India's capabilities to keep the NE under control. Having a few dozen active "freedom movements" sponsored by outside powers severly reduces India's options in the NE. Thankfully, various groups (the NSCN was the mosts recent one) are talking of dropping the gun and getting involved in governance, which seems like a breakthrough of sorts.

Karan Dixit · Post by **Karan Dixit** » 04 Jul 2008 10:08

It seems like westerners have started their dirty deeds in Myanmar.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080702/wl ... 0702074659

putnanja · Post by **putnanja** » 15 Jul 2008 02:23

Trade ties with Myanmar in for boost

Trade ties with Myanmar in for boost

G. Srinivasan

New Delhi, July 14 The Minister for Commerce of Myanmar, Brigadier General Tin Naing Thein, would pay a three-day visit to India beginning July 16 to carry forward the dialogue of bilateral cooperation and intensify economic engagement between the two countries.

Mr Thein, visiting India at the invitation of the Minister of State for Commerce, Mr Jairam Ramesh, would meet the Union Agriculture Minister, Mr Sharad Pawar, the Minister of Panchayati Raj and North Eastern States, Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar, and the Union Commerce & Industry Minister, Mr Kamal Nath, besides taking part in the India International Garment Fair that begins here in Gurgaon, Haryana on Wednesday, official sources told Business Line here.
Bilateral relations

When contacted, MrJairam Ramesh said that Myanmar Commerce Minister’s visit would help cementing bilateral relations since “we are interested in augmenting trade across Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram and Myanmar”.

He said that currently there is only one border trade point in Moreh in Manipur for the entire 1600 km border stretch. India is keen on not only increasing more border trade centres but also connect them to trade at the border. A Joint Trade Commission of India and Myanmar is meeting in the second week of October at Mandalay in Myanmar.

Mr Ramesh said India and the Myanmar Government have also been in discussions for long-term procurement of pulses by India from Myanmar as such imports from India from various sources amount to $600 million a year. While domestic production of pulses hovers at 14 million tonnes, India imports two million tonnes.

There would also be discussion on letting Indian companies cultivate oil palm in Myanmar with ‘buy-back’ provisions as India is currently importing 3.4 million tonnes of palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia.

Mr Ramesh said that he would be hosting a luncheon meeting in honour of the visiting Commerce Minister on July 16 here in which the Commerce and Industry Ministers of States of Arunachal Pradesh, Mizroam, Manipur and Nagaland would also take part in order to share ideas and improve border trade.
Jewellery trade team

He said that India has also invited a jewellery trade delegation from Myanmar to take part in India International Jewellery Show to be held in Mumbai from August 7 to 11. Myanmar is a major producer of ruby, sapphire, jade, emerald, topaz and pearls.

To a question about bilateral trade volume, the Minister admitted that “our exports to Myanmar are $150 million, while we import goods worth $600 million and the trade balance is against us. But what we are looking for is investment opportunities in Myanmar and during my two visits to Myanmar in May and June 2008, we have discussed India’s participation in hydel project in Chindwin river in Myanmar”.

Paul · Post by **Paul** » 26 Aug 2008 02:18

While trying to look up info on Yunnan and the distance of this state from BOB, I came upon this interesting info.

This town is located at the Chinese-Burmese border. There is much trade in imported goods, notably jade and fabrics. Wooden furniture (sourced from Burmese logs) are also widely available. Cheap souvenirs can also be bought from travelling Burmese merchants in the city, or by the sizeable number of other foreigners present in the city such as Pakistanis and Indians.

http://wikitravel.org/en/Ruili
WHat are Pakis doing in this region???

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 10 Oct 2008 19:19

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/200 ... 140100.htm

From a thread in the T&E forum:

Global Indians: There’s no stopping them
Meeting in Singapore after 12 years.
M. Ramesh

Question: Where in the world would you find the highest number of ‘People of Indian Origin’? Give yourself a few minutes to make a good guess.

Answer: Myanmar. Not less than 2.5 million ethnic Indians live there.

To most, this information will come as a surprise, though it should not, given the proximity and historical connections between India and Myanmar. But statistics about Indians abroad are full of such eye-poppers.

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 09 Nov 2008 14:24

X-Posting from Bangladesh Thread.

Gerard wrote:Myanmar building up troops on border

Tension between Bangladesh and Myanmar intensified Friday as Myanmar started reinforcing border troops after talks in Myanmar over disputed waters in the Bay of Bengal failed.

This also prompted Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) to be on alert at strategic points in Bandarban and Cox's Bazar districts.

According to sources in BDR, the paramilitary forces have been put on alert in Rezu, Chakdhala, Asadtali, Fultali, Lebuchhari, Dhumdhum, Amtali, Tamru and Ukhia borders in the two districts.

Bangladesh Navy intelligence gathered information Thursday that Myanmar had begun mobilising ground troops near the Naf river but the mobilisation was not visible. Then the Navy alerted the BDR.

BDR sources yesterday said since Myanmar continued reinforcing troops along its border with Bangladesh, Bangladesh has also taken appropriate steps as a precautionary measure.

Local sources said BDR also alerted people living in the border areas apprehending untoward incidents. A number of schools in the areas were vacated and BDR troops took position there.

The dispute emerged after Myanmar started oil and gas exploration last week in a stretch of sea claimed by Bangladesh. Bangladesh deployed naval ships to the area and simultaneously sent a diplomatic team to Myanmar seeking to resolve the issue through negotiations.

Officials claimed that the meeting ended without any resolution but Bangladesh notified Myanmar authorities its claim on the territory. Bangladesh was in good terms with the Myanmar authorities until this dispute emerged.

In 1991, Myanmar had driven more than 250,000 Rohingyas into Bangladesh creating a war-like situation between the two countries. Bangladesh gave shelter to the Rohingyas and through diplomatic moves made Myanmar agree to take them back.

But repatriation of them remains slow and Bangladesh still has several thousand refugees on its soil.

Our Bandarban correspondent quoting Naikkhangchhari UNO Nowab Aslam Habib reports: Tension built up as Myanmar forces mobilised along the border. No untoward incident in Naikkhangchhari was reported, he said.

A defence source said BDR is unable to keep a close watch on 173km-long remote and hilly border area. BDR has only five watchtowers in that long stretch of border. Following the 1991 incident with Myanmar, BDR recommended increasing the number of towers there but there was no follow up.

Locals alleged that the Nasaka, border force of Myanmar, shot four Bangladeshis dead near the border last Sunday. Agitated people on Friday captured two Myanmar citizens, Mohammad and Azizul Haq, at Rezu-Amtali border areas. They are now under BDR's custody.

To review the situation, an eight-member high-level BDR team led by Chittagong Sector Commander Colonel Akhtar visited Lembuchhari and Chakdhala border areas of Naikkhangchhari.

Meanwhile, sources said the situation in the Bay of Bengal remains unchanged. There was no exploration activities for the second day yesterday but the Myanmar ships remain anchored 55km southwest at 227 degrees from St Martin's Island.

The Myanmar ships started exploration activities on November 1 ignoring Bangladesh Navy warnings of trespassing on Bangladesh waters. The area is well within Bangladesh's territory and marked as deep-sea blocks 8-13. Bangladesh officially lodged protest before Myanmar ambassador last Sunday. Myanmar also protested before the Bangladeshi ambassador in Myanmar the same day.

Bangladesh later on requested North Korean government to ask Daewoo, which is conducting the exploration for Myanmar, to stop its activities in the Bay. Bangladesh also requested Myanmar's closest ally China to ask Myanmar to quit Bangladeshi waters till the maritime boundary is marked as per the UN guideline.

On Thursday, China suggested that Bangladesh and Myanmar settle their dispute through friendly negotiations, apparently stepping back from taking any measure.

"We hope the countries will settle it through equal and friendly negotiations and maintain a stable bilateral relationship. As their friend, China will contribute in an appropriate manner," said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang at a press conference, reports Xinhua.

This is happening in India's backyard. China has forced itself onto Bangladesh to play the role of arbitrator in South Asia, a role which would have been India's. China is telling Bangladesh, that if it wants its security interests preserved, it would have to negotiate with China and give China concessions. On the other hand, China is giving Myanmar a long leash to go about expanding its military influence and browbeat its neighbors without any fear of retaliation, as it is under China's security cover.

India on the other hand is so paralyzed, that it cannot do anything. China is the primary country influencing Myanmar, so Myanmar would look up to Chinese leadership and not heed to what India has to say. So India siding with Myanmar in this dispute would be superfluous. India siding with Bangladesh would mean that the relationship that India had built up over the last decade, even playing second-fiddle to China on this, would come to naught. If India wants to play the role of a neutral mediator, guess what, India is not invited. Bangladesh did not come to India, but went straight to China, because Bangladesh knows, who pulls the strings on this. Should this dispute escalate, Western countries would throw their lot with Bangladesh to spite Myanmar, and Myanmar would go running even deeper into the Dragon's embrace, which means further strategic loss to India's interests. So whichever way you look at it, this is India's loss.

This stinks very strongly like something the Chinese have provoked. Myanmar is doing this at the behest of the Chinese, and the Bangladeshis are walking into the trap.

India would have to give this new turn of events some serious thought. This should also be something decisive. The most optimal outcome would be if those officers of the Myanmar junta, who are responsible for this event, are demoted or otherwise shunt out from decision-making, allowing other leaders to take up the mantle. Another course of action would be for India to completely rethink our strategy of appeasement of military junta in Myanmar, and forcing a people's revolution there with the help of the West. If Chinese influence is growing there by leaps and bounds, then India's current strategy is is bound for doom anyway.

This is turning very serious indeed. This is a very forceful entry of the Chinese into the South Asian Theater, otherwise India would be losing sway in all countries of South Asia, be it Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, or Sri Lanka. The Chinese mean business, and India better learn to do things differently.

The Chinese may have decided to stoke this new conflict, so that when Obama is in the White House, the Myanmar-Bangladesh Conflict becomes the first crisis on his hands. He would have to turn to the Chinese to influence the Myanmarese to back off. With the side-effect, that the Chinese again prove to the USA, that they are the prime power in the whole of Asia, even in the South Asian region, and that Obama should not see India as a credible counter-weight as Bush used to see India.

Stan_Savljevic · Post by **Stan_Savljevic** » 17 Dec 2008 15:22

A cross-border optical fiber link between Myanmar and India to boost information link is expected to be completed and operational by March next year, the local weekly Yangon Times journal reported Wednesday. Under the Indian government loan, the project, which worths 7 million U.S. dollars, started in 2006 December.

The 640-kilometer-long Myanmar-India optical fiber link, which connects Indian's northeastern border town of Moreh and Myanmar's second largest city of Mandalay, passes through six cities of Tamu, Kampatwa, Kyi Gone, Shwebo, Monywa and Sagaing. Along the fiber link, ADSL+2 system with 7,000 lines are being installed in 80 locations including Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw, the report added.

The project was signed between the state-run Myanma Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) and the Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL) during then President APJ Abdul Kalam's state visit to Myanmar in March 2006. According to the contract, MPT and TCIL agree to implement SDH/ STM 4 optical fiber link between the two cities and the ADSL system.

Meanwhile, in April this year similar link between Myawaddy ( Myanmar) and Maesot (Thailand) was established as part of the information superhighway network (ISN) project of the six-country Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS)-Economic Cooperation. The Myanmar-Thai fiber optical link extends as angon-Hmawby- Bago-Kyaikhto-Tahton-Pha an-Kawkareik-Thingan Nyinaung-Myawaddy on the Myanmar side, while Maesot-Bangkok stands on the Thai side. Those links on the two countries' respective sides have been in place, leaving the cross-border link between Myawaddy and Maesot is to be connected to complete the network.

Also in March this year, fiber link between Myanmar and China, built since April 2007 and involving China Telecom and Yunnan Telecom, was set up in Myanmar's border town of Muse also as part of the regional ISN project. The Myanmar-China fiber optic link was built across China's Kunming and Myanmar's Muse with its link further extended to reach the commercial city of Yangon.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/holn ... 171233.htm

wasu · Post by **wasu** » 20 Dec 2008 09:24

I recently read the book, Billions of Entrepreneurs, by Tarun Khanna. Chap 11, Old and new roads to Mandalay, is dedicated to myanmar.

He uses the story of Jaspal singh kaur, 3rd gen burmese-indian, who grandfathers moved to taunggyi in 1886, to narrate the story. She lives in US now.

Excerpts from this chapter..

This excert sheds light on the how indian community built it all and lost it with the japanese invasion being the final nail in the coffin..

...By the time Singh's father was born in the 1920s, several thousand India's had made their way to Burma. By then Burma was firmly ensconced as part of British India. But there was a longer historical connection between Burma and India. Burmese schoolchildren will tell you that Burma began when an Indian prince from ancient times established a kingdomTaguang, north of Mandalay, several thousand years ago, even before Budhism came into being. The British had exiled Burmese King Thibaw to India and the last Mughal Emperor of India, Bahadur Shah Zafar, to Burma. In the 1920s cosmopolitan Rangoon had more immigrants than did New York: 53 percent of Rangoon's population was Indian; 32 percent Burmese, 8 percent Chinese; and the rest were Arabs, Jews, and Europeans.

One of the most prominent of the Indian groups was the Nattukottai Chettiars, a merchant community originating from the Chettinad tract of what is now the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. The Chettiars, originally salt traders, first sensed an arbitrage opportunity in financing businesses in Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka) and then began to follow British financial institutions into Malaya and the Straits Settlements, reaching Burma as troops and laborers arrived in Tenasserim with the British. The Chettiars were major financiers of the transformation of the fertile Irrawaddy Delta. As agricultural development expanded to encompass trade and commerce in rubber, tea, and opium, the Chettiars embraced the increased demand for credit and gradually moved away from their businesses in southern India to entrench themselves in the Asian colonies, with Burma most dramatically accounting for two-thirds of Chettiar financing worldwide. Sean Turnell, a scholar studying Chettiar commerce in Burma writes, -by 1930 Chettiar moneylenders collectively had 750 million rupees of capital employed in Burma in the form of loans outstanding and other investments ... This was a figure equivalent to all British investments in Burma combined." The Indian Chettiars thus emerged as Burma's financial backbone and acted as intermediaries between Western banks and Burmese cultivators. India's golden age of trade, from the early nineteenth to the early twentieth centuries, included more than Burma. Marwari traders from the state of Rajasthan traded jute and commodities in Europe after World War I. The historian Claude Markovitz, in his book The Global World of the Indian Merchant, 1750 to 1947, points out that trade between Europe and India was monopolized by big British trading houses but that trade with Asia and Africa was primarily in the hands of Indians. Asian trade included first opium and then cotton from China. Markovitz calculates that in 1830 the Indian merchant diaspora of the Indian Ocean, Persian Gulf, and Red Sea numbered a few thousand. A century later Indian traders and commercial employees outside India numbered 1 million, 60 percent of whom were in Burma, Cey-lon, and Malaya.

But India's dominance in Burma was virtually erased in just a decade.Paddy prices nearly collapsed with the onset of the Great Depression. Rice cultivators foreclosed, and the Chettiars seized collateral land. Because they were the only people with money, the Chettiars had been accumulating land as part of their normal business practices. At their peak they controlled a fourth of the prime land in the Irrawaddy Delta. Unsurprisingly, the Chettiars were then vilified in the Burmese public arena as heartless, parasitic land grabbers. The tensions finally resulted in the Indo-Burmese riots of 1930.

Around that time, during the Sino-japanese war of 1937, the Japanese were expanding into northern China with the intention of heading south. As a defense against the Japanese invasion, the British constructed the Dian Myanmar Road, linking Lashio in eastern Burma with Kunming in southern China's Yunnan Province. This 717-mile road became the main supply route for the Allies carrying war materiel to inner China. But Rangoon fell easily to Japan's imperial army, and in its wake the Indian mercantile community exited Burma en masse.World War II came to Burma in the form of an advancing Japanese army and U.S. troops. The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941. The so-called CBI theater—China, Burma, and India—became important, on the theory that Burma's collapse would inevitably render China vulnerable. In the wake of the atrocities that gripped the Buddhist kingdom and Rangoon's fall to the Japanese in 1942, four hundred thousand Indians left Burma, most of them taking a treacherous overland route to India. Eighty thousand or so perished in the process. By the end of 1942 all of Burma was under Japanese control...

This excerpt shows the "yunnanization" of burma going on now. This is a bigger threat than all the other threats being discussed.

...In 1982 the political report of the Twelfth National CCP Conference stated, "We Marxists and Leninists believe that communism will definitely be realized worldwide in the future, but revolution cannot be imported and should be chosen by people in different countries themselves. " Thus Beijing began leveraging economic clout to support its political preferences.

Over the next decade military and economic cooperation between Burma and China overshadowed any previous relations between the two countries the cooperation that Burma had with any third country. Moral outrage from democracies worldwide was ignored. Burma was flooded by Chinese aid, arms and consumer goods. By the mid-1990s the Burmese junta had acquired tanks, aircraft, artillery, and other arms from China with an estimated value of $1.2 billion. By 1995 the value of trade between China and Burma amounted to an unprecedented $767 million. But given the trade in contraband, it was clear that official trade statistics grossly underestimated the level of trade between the two countries. During the mid to late 1990s it appeared that George Orwell's Burma Days and Amitav Ghosh's Glass Palace novels, which told tales of British colonialism and Indian commercial dominance, were quaintly anachronistic. Even a staunchly nationalist Burma, the very Burma that had thrown out the Indians and targeted Burmese Chinese in riots during the 1960s had come under the Chinese spell. Burma had become Baja Yunnan.

In 1996 Jaspal Singh revisited her hometown of Taunggyi after thirty years. "Three things struck me," Singh said. "Food, people, and shops were all Chinese. I bet that 99.9 percent of the goods for sale were from across that border. I was shocked. Instead of the Buddhist pagodas that were such a prominent part of the landscape, all I could see were these new Chinese pagodas, which were far gaudier. I asked my friends, 'How did so many of them come here? How can they live here, they are not allowed to buy property?". Singh's friend whispered back, " The chinese in Burma call themselves the 'Wa' and claim that they are a Burmese tribe, and are even listed in the Taunggyi museum."

Indeed, what singh was witnessed was the ongoing "Yunnanization" of northern burma. Illegal immigration was widespread. Soon, a million Chinese has crossed into Lashio, north of Mandalay. To accomodate a population that was half chinese, Lashio ordered its primary schools to teach primarily in Chinese. The polulation of mandalay, the soul of burma's buddist religion and culture, was one-fifth yunnanese. Economically, manadaly was viewed as a chinese city. One analyst pointed out, "The chinese can move down to mandalay; they are not supposed to go there but they do. They can buy land by buying burmese residency permits; they purchase registration cards from people who die and so on."

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 22 Dec 2008 06:43

Wasu, Also read Sugata Bose's A Hundred Horizons: The Indian Ocean in the age of global empire

Look at the cover.

BTW, Dr. Bose is grandson of Netaji!

Yogi_G · Post by **Yogi_G** » 22 Dec 2008 09:17

RajeshA wrote:X-Posting from Bangladesh Thread.

Gerard wrote:Myanmar building up troops on border

Tension between Bangladesh and Myanmar intensified Friday as Myanmar started reinforcing border troops after talks in Myanmar over disputed waters in the Bay of Bengal failed.

This also prompted Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) to be on alert at strategic points in Bandarban and Cox's Bazar districts.

According to sources in BDR, the paramilitary forces have been put on alert in Rezu, Chakdhala, Asadtali, Fultali, Lebuchhari, Dhumdhum, Amtali, Tamru and Ukhia borders in the two districts.

Bangladesh Navy intelligence gathered information Thursday that Myanmar had begun mobilising ground troops near the Naf river but the mobilisation was not visible. Then the Navy alerted the BDR.

BDR sources yesterday said since Myanmar continued reinforcing troops along its border with Bangladesh, Bangladesh has also taken appropriate steps as a precautionary measure.

Local sources said BDR also alerted people living in the border areas apprehending untoward incidents. A number of schools in the areas were vacated and BDR troops took position there.

The dispute emerged after Myanmar started oil and gas exploration last week in a stretch of sea claimed by Bangladesh. Bangladesh deployed naval ships to the area and simultaneously sent a diplomatic team to Myanmar seeking to resolve the issue through negotiations.

Officials claimed that the meeting ended without any resolution but Bangladesh notified Myanmar authorities its claim on the territory. Bangladesh was in good terms with the Myanmar authorities until this dispute emerged.

In 1991, Myanmar had driven more than 250,000 Rohingyas into Bangladesh creating a war-like situation between the two countries. Bangladesh gave shelter to the Rohingyas and through diplomatic moves made Myanmar agree to take them back.

But repatriation of them remains slow and Bangladesh still has several thousand refugees on its soil.

Our Bandarban correspondent quoting Naikkhangchhari UNO Nowab Aslam Habib reports: Tension built up as Myanmar forces mobilised along the border. No untoward incident in Naikkhangchhari was reported, he said.

A defence source said BDR is unable to keep a close watch on 173km-long remote and hilly border area. BDR has only five watchtowers in that long stretch of border. Following the 1991 incident with Myanmar, BDR recommended increasing the number of towers there but there was no follow up.

Locals alleged that the Nasaka, border force of Myanmar, shot four Bangladeshis dead near the border last Sunday. Agitated people on Friday captured two Myanmar citizens, Mohammad and Azizul Haq, at Rezu-Amtali border areas. They are now under BDR's custody.

To review the situation, an eight-member high-level BDR team led by Chittagong Sector Commander Colonel Akhtar visited Lembuchhari and Chakdhala border areas of Naikkhangchhari.

Meanwhile, sources said the situation in the Bay of Bengal remains unchanged. There was no exploration activities for the second day yesterday but the Myanmar ships remain anchored 55km southwest at 227 degrees from St Martin's Island.

The Myanmar ships started exploration activities on November 1 ignoring Bangladesh Navy warnings of trespassing on Bangladesh waters. The area is well within Bangladesh's territory and marked as deep-sea blocks 8-13. Bangladesh officially lodged protest before Myanmar ambassador last Sunday. Myanmar also protested before the Bangladeshi ambassador in Myanmar the same day.

Bangladesh later on requested North Korean government to ask Daewoo, which is conducting the exploration for Myanmar, to stop its activities in the Bay. Bangladesh also requested Myanmar's closest ally China to ask Myanmar to quit Bangladeshi waters till the maritime boundary is marked as per the UN guideline.

On Thursday, China suggested that Bangladesh and Myanmar settle their dispute through friendly negotiations, apparently stepping back from taking any measure.

"We hope the countries will settle it through equal and friendly negotiations and maintain a stable bilateral relationship. As their friend, China will contribute in an appropriate manner," said Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang at a press conference, reports Xinhua.
This is happening in India's backyard. China has forced itself onto Bangladesh to play the role of arbitrator in South Asia, a role which would have been India's. China is telling Bangladesh, that if it wants its security interests preserved, it would have to negotiate with China and give China concessions. On the other hand, China is giving Myanmar a long leash to go about expanding its military influence and browbeat its neighbors without any fear of retaliation, as it is under China's security cover.

India on the other hand is so paralyzed, that it cannot do anything. China is the primary country influencing Myanmar, so Myanmar would look up to Chinese leadership and not heed to what India has to say. So India siding with Myanmar in this dispute would be superfluous. India siding with Bangladesh would mean that the relationship that India had built up over the last decade, even playing second-fiddle to China on this, would come to naught. If India wants to play the role of a neutral mediator, guess what, India is not invited. Bangladesh did not come to India, but went straight to China, because Bangladesh knows, who pulls the strings on this. Should this dispute escalate, Western countries would throw their lot with Bangladesh to spite Myanmar, and Myanmar would go running even deeper into the Dragon's embrace, which means further strategic loss to India's interests. So whichever way you look at it, this is India's loss.

This stinks very strongly like something the Chinese have provoked. Myanmar is doing this at the behest of the Chinese, and the Bangladeshis are walking into the trap.

India would have to give this new turn of events some serious thought. This should also be something decisive. The most optimal outcome would be if those officers of the Myanmar junta, who are responsible for this event, are demoted or otherwise shunt out from decision-making, allowing other leaders to take up the mantle. Another course of action would be for India to completely rethink our strategy of appeasement of military junta in Myanmar, and forcing a people's revolution there with the help of the West. If Chinese influence is growing there by leaps and bounds, then India's current strategy is is bound for doom anyway.

This is turning very serious indeed. This is a very forceful entry of the Chinese into the South Asian Theater, otherwise India would be losing sway in all countries of South Asia, be it Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, or Sri Lanka. The Chinese mean business, and India better learn to do things differently.

The Chinese may have decided to stoke this new conflict, so that when Obama is in the White House, the Myanmar-Bangladesh Conflict becomes the first crisis on his hands. He would have to turn to the Chinese to influence the Myanmarese to back off. With the side-effect, that the Chinese again prove to the USA, that they are the prime power in the whole of Asia, even in the South Asian region, and that Obama should not see India as a credible counter-weight as Bush used to see India.

I guess India's options are very limited here. What India should aim to do is to hit 3 birds with the same stone (animal rights activists please excuse)...

1. Bring democracy to Burma which translates to Aung San Suu Kyi to power and hence automatically Chinese influence in Burma is nullified and Indo-Burmese Bhai-Bhai.....
2. Bring Bangladesh permanently into the fold of India. Win hearts and minds of Bangladeshis and remove rabid anti-Indianism once and for all...
3. Kick out the Maoists from Nepal. Absence of any form of authoritarian government in South Asian neighborhood would be the best catalyst to it, hence #1 above would help in achieving this point...

To achieve both India first needs to actively support Bangladesh both diplomatically and militarily, yes, I mean it. Doing this would achieve point 2, though I do realize its easier said than done...We can then flush BD with rupees/dollars/goods and start big-time trade with BD and ensure any military crisis does not impact BD economy (whatever there is already)...

Before you pounce on me saying Burma would then closely align with China and Chinese would enter South Asia, here is my analysis of that development. Yes it will happen, Chinese will enter South Asia and Burma will become a close ally, China will miltrarily help Burma and it will become a proxy war between India and China. Cosos island will have Chinese monitoring station. In the meantime Indian and BD diplomats can heat up things in the international fora with Russian and American help. We can make noise of lack of democracy in BD and Chinese expansionism to the south, all the stuff that the Americans would hate to hear....Economic and military sanctions on Burma would cripple it and it would only survive with Chinese help. Because of the economic crisis, in spite of Chinese help riots would emerge and pro-democracy movement would pick up heat. Whole world bar China (er...TSP onlee to support it) would be outright against Burma....Aung San Suu Kyi comes to power somehow (covert ops from world's powers) and China is kicked out from Burma....Myanmar and BD are now very close to India and a free trade bloc is started and India helps restore the economies of these 2 nations....China is essentially kicked out of South Asia....

Next comes Nepal, absence of authoritarian govt in Burma and presence of a nascent democracy even in TSP would turn SAARC's opinion to non-Commie one, pressure on Nepal from US and India to expel Maoists from Govt....

In short India can use this flare-up between BD and Burma to its advantage and score a diplomatic victory and bring peace and democracy to its neighborhood....

Kailash · Post by **Kailash** » 24 Dec 2008 07:31

Yogi_G wrote:In the meantime Indian and BD diplomats can heat up things in the international fora with Russian and American help.

Correction - Russian or American help, not both. US may need our new friendship, Russians would not act or speak against the chinks. Moreover, the whole issue never negatively impacts Russia - ruskis can use this point to sell more weapons to India!

Yogi_G wrote:Whole world bar China

This would never happen! Not for the next 50 years, Not until everything "Made in China" is being manufactured locally by every consumer country (aka the whole world)

Yogi_G · Post by **Yogi_G** » 24 Dec 2008 08:44

Kailash wrote:
Yogi_G wrote:In the meantime Indian and BD diplomats can heat up things in the international fora with Russian and American help.
Correction - Russian or American help, not both. US may need our new friendship, Russians would not act or speak against the chinks. Moreover, the whole issue never negatively impacts Russia - ruskis can use this point to sell more weapons to India!

Yogi_G wrote:Whole world bar China
This would never happen! Not for the next 50 years, Not until everything "Made in China" is being manufactured locally by every consumer country (aka the whole world)

You forget that India is currently dear both in the short term and the long term for the Ruskies and Amrikhans. The Amrikhans, the Ruskies, the Iranians and the Indians all worked together in supporting the Northern Alliance, mind you, no it was not in Russia's direct backyard but in a bit-distant Afghanistan. Ruskies had to interfere in the Afghanistan in order to ensure "Ummah" influence does not reach its backyard eventually aka Chechenya. To your point on what Ruskies would have in terms of interest in BD is the 2 points as below,

1. Weapons, Remember BD has Migs. Russia will definitely look to penetrate the market further and ensure J-10 or JF-17 doesnt take the slot. Dont think short term, yes, a few Migs wont mean much for Ruskies but mere presence of Ruskie weapons in BD promises to Ruskies a growing market in the region, look at it this way, 10 years down the line BD will look to buy more weapons and the Ruskies for sure wud nt want China to play supplier.....

2. Ruskie-Amrikhan rivarly will see them vying to broker peace and make all the right noises about democracy and freedom, more so for the former than the latter....Resurgent Russia might also look at warm water ports in the near future in the IOR. I am not saying that it will happen overnight given the BD-Ruskie relationship but the Ruskies would definitely want a presence....Ruskies want to be known again as a super-power and wanting to play in the game of big powers in the 21st century wud be in its cards and where better than in IOR?

As for the whole world bar China thing, may I mention that it is already happening...name one big power currently in the world who support Myanmar apart from China? The silent discontent with the Myanmar situation may spill out to become more verbose should hostilities emerge, it will not be difficult to see who will be termed aggressor in a BD-Myanmar conflict....

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 18 Jan 2009 20:53

Survivor's ordeal on Andaman Sea

Rescued by Indian coast guards from the seas east of the Little Andaman islands last week after saying he was pushed back into the sea by Thai soldiers, Mohammed is "grateful to Allah for being alive". "Most of those pushed back into the sea by the Thai military have perished," said Mohammed, as he provided the BBC with graphic details of the operation.

kidoman · Post by **kidoman** » 18 Jan 2009 21:05

Gerard wrote:Survivor's ordeal on Andaman Sea
Rescued by Indian coast guards from the seas east of the Little Andaman islands last week after saying he was pushed back into the sea by Thai soldiers, Mohammed is "grateful to Allah for being alive". "Most of those pushed back into the sea by the Thai military have perished," said Mohammed, as he provided the BBC with graphic details of the operation.

He shud be thankfull to the Indian Coast guards first.

sum · Post by **sum** » 18 Jan 2009 22:06

Mohammed is "grateful to Allah for being alive". "Most of those pushed back into the sea by the Thai military have perished," said Mohammed, as he provided the BBC with graphic details of the operation.

Expect this same guy to feature in some Indian wanted list just a few years after he is resettled in the Indian mainland since BD/myanmar will refuse to take him back. This same person will take up arms in protest against oppression of minorities in evil,kufr India.

A guy who cannot thank his actual saviours is a dangerous snake to watch out for since he has no gratitude...

Chinmayanand · Post by **Chinmayanand** » 20 Jan 2009 01:46

sum wrote:A guy who cannot thank his actual saviours is a dangerous snake to watch out for since he has no gratitude...

Indian coast guards should put him back in the ocean ...

Yogi_G · Post by **Yogi_G** » 20 Jan 2009 02:33

durgesh wrote:
sum wrote:A guy who cannot thank his actual saviours is a dangerous snake to watch out for since he has no gratitude...
Indian coast guards should put him back in the ocean ...

Come on Durgesh, that is not good. I am surprised you make such a statement.

What can India do with such people? Negotiate with BD for a refugee camp now that AL is there...but then again what stops them from being deported when the regime changes in BD.

Airavat · Post by **Airavat** » 07 Feb 2009 08:44

PTI: Vice President Hamid Ansari held "extremely comprehensive" talks with the head of the country's military junta Gen Than Shwe here today.

"We have taken concrete decisions on how to enhance economic cooperation in the areas of hydrocarbon, security and power," Ansari told journalists accompanying him on board Air India's special aircraft on his way from Myanmar's administrative capital here to the country's business hub Yangon after talks with Gen Shwe.

Xinhua: Myanmar official statistics showed that Myanmar-India bilateral trade reached 995 million U.S. dollars in the 2007-08 fiscal year with Myanmar's exports to India accounting for 810 million U.S. dollars and its imports from India 185 million U.S. dollars.

India stands as Myanmar's 4th largest trading partner after Thailand, China and Singapore and also Myanmar's second largest export market after Thailand, absorbing 25 percent of its total exports.

Keshav · Post by **Keshav** » 09 Feb 2009 04:10

You guys are crazy. Why the Muslim hate for something so trivial? That's like not believing Barack Obama is President because he didn't swear on a Bible. Cool the jets guys.

Instead of getting made at that guy, forget him, and be proud and say more positive statements like "Way to go Indian Coastguard!"

Hiten · Post by **Hiten** » 17 Feb 2009 15:30

Bhel, NHPC in joint bid to bring Myanmar project back on track

Tamanti hydropower project in Myanmar is part of India’s efforts to improve diplomatic and economic ties with its eastern neighbour, which has rich deposits of natural gas

All said and done, I agree with the earlier assertion that a democratically-elected Aung Sang Su Kyi-types is much more favorable to India's interests there - commie commie bhai bhai

Should work towards formenting discontent that would result in a regime change in Burma

Anujan · Post by **Anujan** » 19 Feb 2009 01:42

Clinton Signals Possible Shift in U.S. Policy on Burma

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday that economic sanctions imposed by the United States and other Western governments had failed to pressure the repressive Burmese government, signaling a potentially major shift in U.S. policy.

Yogi_G · Post by **Yogi_G** » 03 Apr 2009 21:15

x-posting from future strategic scenario of sub-continent...

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/KD03Df03.html

Time for regime change in Myanmar, bring in Suu Kyi by any means, only we do it with Bangladesh's help, in doing so we gain the trust of both BD and Burma, of course, the former's only for some time though....

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 05 Jun 2009 21:48

There is something odd about Mynamar society and elite. I cant put my finger on it. I still dont understand why it was bifurcated in 1935. Imperial machinations are one side of the story. We need to find all the relevant reasons. Mynamar is periphery state of India. It was the first to be pulled away. Why?

Meanwhile book review from the Telegraph, 5 June 2009

The State in Myanmar By Robert H. Taylor, Hurst,

THE STORY OF THE BIRTH OF A REGIME THAT HAS BLOOD ON ITS HANDS

The State in Myanmar By Robert H. Taylor, Hurst, Rs 895

What would the state in Myanmar have been like if Aung San had not been assassinated on the eve of the country’s independence from Britain? How different could it have been if his daughter, Aung San Suu Kyi, had been allowed to form a government following the massive victory of her National League for Democracy in May 1990?

The world’s attention is drawn once again to Myanmar by the current trial of Suu Kyi who has spent 13 of the last 19 years under house arrest. To international analysts, the story of the father-daughter duo is essentially about Myanmar’s struggle to emerge as a modern state. And, so far, it has been a story of tragic failure.

The army, which has ruled the country either directly or under some political guise, however, sees it differently. It sees itself as the saviour of the state, as General Saw Mung, chairman of the State Law and Order Restoration Council, so brazenly claimed in an address to the nation, “I Saved Burma”, in 1989. The idea was that the state would have disintegrated or lost its sovereignty but for the army. There is nothing unique about the claim; all authoritarian regimes say so. {Is there any iota of truth to it? What was it saved from? granted an Army regime is an authoritarian one but one should not dismiss it off hand.}

But this was soon after the formation of the SLORC, following the bloody crackdown on student protests in 1988 that killed several thousands in Yangon alone and many more in other Myanmarese cities. The army and the state in Myanmar had not faced such a challenge before. The author of this book calls it “the most violent period in the urban history of Myanmar since the Second World War and the post-independence civil war”.

Taylor’s book is an extended version of his The State in Burma, published in 1987. The events since 1988 would have made the original book incomplete and rather irrelevant. So Taylor adds two long chapters to update his analysis of the process of state-formation in the country.

The part that made up the original book still remains its greatest strength. It traces the history of the state’s evolution from its period of tribal and ethnic wars to the colonial experiment in political and economic unification, to the collapse into civil war and its re-emergence under Ne Win. Taylor’s insights into the complexities of both ideological and ethnic politics of the country, coupled with his understanding of the broad sweep of history, make his study of state-making in Myanmar one of the best in its category.

As for the army’s role in state-formation in Myanmar, the author maintains an impersonal and dispassionate view of the contest between the army and its pro-democracy opponents. He presents the army’s view of itself as the ultimate champion of national unity and interest, but suggests that the military regime cannot afford to win either legitimacy or security for itself unless it improves its human rights record. {what cahllenges does the Army face that it needs to sully its HR record? Does it face ethnic separation? Does it face religious splinter groups?}

The last of the new chapters that have been added to the original book discusses the new constitution on which a national referendum was held last year under controversial circumstances, and which will be the basis for another general election next year. The provisions in the constitution leave absolutely no doubt about the army’s intention to continue with its control of the state and the government. {There is something unstated here that forces teh Army to have such a role. I know TSP has the saem but why in Myanmar?}

Two important omissions stand out even in the extended book. Most recent analyses of the state in Myanmar look closely at the role of the Buddhist clergy and monasteries. Some scholars, like Mikael Gravers, suggest that both the military and the Buddhist religious order have one thing in common — both see themselves as the custodian of “Burmese” tradition in statecraft as well as in social life. David Steinberg links the two institutions even closer — he argues that the military regime, though corrupt and despised, is accepted as inevitable owing to Buddhist notions of ana, awza and cetana, all of which derive from the central Buddhist doctrine of karma. To deny the army its right to hold the state together is to oppose karma.

{So at the core the underlaying circumustances is the Buddhist angst at losing another state from the sub-contienent. Are Myanmarese similar to the SL Buddhists in their state view? So what challenges are the Buddhists facig in Myanmar? Why do they feel threatened? Is Indian support to Ang San Su Kyii misplaced and based on modernism and repugnance to military leaders?}

The other curious omission is the role of the drug trade in not only the country’s economy but also in its security and power structure. The drug trade is closely linked to the role and nature of the army rule and to the question of the state’s relation to ethnicity. The army may have struck its deals in recent years with the drug lords, drastically reducing the latter’s power; but to ignore the influence of the trade on today’s state in Myanmar is to miss an important element in the story.

ASHIS CHAKRABARTI

RajeshA · Post by **RajeshA** » 11 Jun 2009 14:07

MPs move Manmohan on Suu Kyi: Hindu

NEW DELHI: More than 100 parliamentarians have urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ask Myanmar to release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and to hold elections with the widest possible representation. The MPs, in a memorandum to Dr. Singh felt that elections due next year there would lack legitimacy, if Ms. Suu Kyi is barred from contesting.

The signatories to the appeal include Brinda Karat (CPI-M), Amar Singh (Samajwadi Party), Prakash Javadekar (BJP), Sharad Yadav JD(U), Supriya Sule (NCP), B.S. Gnanadesikan of the Congress and Abani Roy of the RSP.

Co-convenor of the Indian Parliamentarians’ Forum for Democracy in Burma Sharad Joshi, who initiated the move, wanted India to change its policy towards Myanmar and establish contacts with the people there too.

Just claims of autonomy from Papa?

Or is it another insidious way of doing Papa's bidding? Trying to upset India's current good relations with the regime there, by forcing UPA government to make noises on Aung San Suu-Kyi!

We know that she suffers, and that the Myanmarese people suffer under the regime, but strategically spoken, India does not have an alternative to dealing with the junta.

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 12 Jun 2009 03:47

RajeshA wrote:MPs move Manmohan on Suu Kyi: Hindu

NEW DELHI: More than 100 parliamentarians have urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ask Myanmar to release pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and to hold elections with the widest possible representation. The MPs, in a memorandum to Dr. Singh felt that elections due next year there would lack legitimacy, if Ms. Suu Kyi is barred from contesting.

The signatories to the appeal include Brinda Karat (CPI-M), Amar Singh (Samajwadi Party), Prakash Javadekar (BJP), Sharad Yadav JD(U), Supriya Sule (NCP), B.S. Gnanadesikan of the Congress and Abani Roy of the RSP.

Co-convenor of the Indian Parliamentarians’ Forum for Democracy in Burma Sharad Joshi, who initiated the move, wanted India to change its policy towards Myanmar and establish contacts with the people there too.
Are these 100 MPs the American lobby inside the Parliament

Just claims of autonomy from Papa?

Or is it another insidious way of doing Papa's bidding? Trying to upset India's current good relations with the regime there, by forcing UPA government to make noises on Aung San Suu-Kyi!

We know that she suffers, and that the Myanmarese people suffer under the regime, but strategically spoken, India does not have an alternative to dealing with the junta.

pgbhat · Post by **pgbhat** » 12 Jun 2009 04:03

RajeshA wrote: We know that she suffers, and that the Myanmarese people suffer under the regime, but strategically spoken, India does not have an alternative to dealing with the junta.

Quite right. Indian interests come first. However we need to keep our options open with Suu Kyi. No need to burn any bridges (junta or suu kyi) ... yet... Although a democratically elected Burmese govt would probably show their middle finger to chipandas.
I wish we could pull off a "Bangladesh" on Myanmar .... but this time only better. Wishful thinking I suppose.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 23 Jun 2009 02:29

Official: N. Korean ship carries weapons to Myanmar

Jamal K. Malik · Post by **Jamal K. Malik** » 23 Jun 2009 14:59

Closely watched NKorean ship still off China coast
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090623/ap_ ... as_nuclear
It is dangerous for N-E of India.

Jamal K. Malik · Post by **Jamal K. Malik** » 30 Jun 2009 22:00

Centre optimistic of re-opening historic Stilwell road/Ledo road
http://www.ddinews.gov.in/Social/stilwell+road.htm

Hopeful of getting Myanmar's nod to re-open the historic Stilwell Road connecting India and China, the government has said an alternative route via the Sitwee port in that country would open the North East to the rest of the South Asia.

Virupaksha · Post by **Virupaksha** » 01 Jul 2009 01:37

Jamal K. Malik wrote:Closely watched NKorean ship still off China coast
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090623/ap_ ... as_nuclear
It is dangerous for N-E of India.

why??

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 01 Jul 2009 02:08

North Korean ship now going the other way

It was suspected the Kang Nam was going to Myanmar. But the U.S. official says that after a week-and-a half at sea, it turned around on Sunday or Monday. It was off the coast of Vietnam on Tuesday.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 01 Jul 2009 02:13

Japanese Police Block Suspected Missile Technology Exports for Burma

Jamal K. Malik · Post by **Jamal K. Malik** » 02 Jul 2009 00:42

ravi_ku wrote:
Jamal K. Malik wrote:Closely watched NKorean ship still off China coast
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090623/ap_ ... as_nuclear
It is dangerous for N-E of India.
why??

1.consignment of weapons in myanmar can divert in N-E.
2.It may have missiles or tech which is not good for us.

Virupaksha · Post by **Virupaksha** » 02 Jul 2009 11:59

Jamal K. Malik wrote:Closely watched NKorean ship still off China coast
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090623/ap_ ... as_nuclear
It is dangerous for N-E of India.
ravi_ku wrote: why??
1.consignment of weapons in myanmar can divert in N-E.
2.It may have missiles or tech which is not good for us.

That single ship??

forgetting all the ships from Maoland?

vera_k · Post by **vera_k** » 02 Jul 2009 13:09

ramana wrote:There is something odd about Mynamar society and elite. I cant put my finger on it. I still dont understand why it was bifurcated in 1935. Imperial machinations are one side of the story. We need to find all the relevant reasons. Mynamar is periphery state of India. It was the first to be pulled away. Why?

My understanding is that Burma was a periphery state for the purposes of Empire. It was administered from India, but the people were seen to be Mongoloid and not part of the Indian nation.

MK Gandhi saw the Burmese as distinct from the Indian people -

Let me simply mention my flying visit to Burma, and the #foongis# there. I was pained by their lethargy. I saw the golden pagoda. I did not like the innumerable little candles burning in the temple, and the rats running about the sanctum brought to my mind thoughts of Swami Dayanand's experience at Morvi. The freedom and energy of the Burmese women charmed just as the indolence of the men pained me. I also saw, during my brief sojourn, that just as Bombay was not India, Rangoon was not Burma, and that just as we in India have become commission agents of English merchants, even so in Burma have we combined with the English merchants, in making the Burmese people our commission agents.

* An autobiography, Chapter 73 - A Month with Gokhale - III

Jamal K. Malik · Post by **Jamal K. Malik** » 04 Jul 2009 22:28

Burma junta leader snubs UN chief

Jamal K. Malik · Post by **Jamal K. Malik** » 05 Jul 2009 18:55

More sanctions possible against Myanmar