‘Democratic’ India Boosts Ties With Dictatorship
While the international community continues to shun the military regime for grave human rights violations, Myanmar’s neighbor India, the so-called largest democracy in the world, is busy expanding its partnership with the junta.
New Delhi has promised to help the regime with a proposed election that other democracies have dismissed as a fraud aimed at prolonging military rule. Moreover, India is also the third-largest supplier of arms and equipment to Myanmar after Russia and China.
A flurry of activity over the past week signaled a strengthening of ties, with the new Indian ambassador presenting his credentials to Min Aung Hlaing and chiefs of the two air forces meeting in Naypyitaw amid the junta’s brutal aerial war on civilians.
At the meeting, India’s air force vice marshal offered to provide more scholarships for Myanmar military trainees and technology for the junta’s air force.
The tightening of ties extended to science and technology, with the relevant ministries meeting in Naypyitaw this week to discuss cooperation in electric vehicles, unmanned aerial vehicles, biotechnology, nanotechnology, artificial intelligence, and renewable energy.
The new Indian ambassador has already met with junta defense minister Tin Aung San, home affairs minister Yar Pyae, and transport minister Mya Tun Oo since arriving in Myanmar.
Thousands more civilian conscripts in military training
Training for the second batch of military conscripts began at junta regional commands in Yangon, Mandalay, Bago regions, Shan State and the Pa-O Self-Administered Zone on May 15, three months after the conscription law was enforced on Feb. 10.
The regime forcibly recruited around 5,000 men in the first intake, which began on April 8. So far, junta media have not mentioned how many young men were drafted for the second intake.
Junta officials previously said that around 5,000 people would be drafted in each intake, signaling that around 10,000 civilians have been pressganged into the military so far.
The regime said it would begin conscripting unmarried women aged between 18 and 27 during the fifth intake.
Reports that junta conscription squads are snatching draft-age civilians off the streets and from their homes have sparked panic, prompting thousands to flee the country. The junta this month issued a partial ban on men leaving the country for work.
India’s top guns abet aerial war on Myanmar civilians
As a senior Indian air force officer attended a bilateral Air Force Dialogue this week, the regime’s warplanes bombed villages in several locations around Myanmar. Read more
Dictator discusses poll plan with ASEAN mandarins
They discussed the conditions of Myanmar’s participation in ASEAN meetings, and the military regime’s plan to hold fresh elections, a junta-controlled newspaper said. Read more
Min Aung Hlaing anoints replica Shan Palace bulldozed by predecessor
The old Kengtung Haw was a symbol of Shan identity until it was razed by the previous junta in 1991 – a fact missing from junta media’s coverage of the new structure. Read more
