India hosts top Burmese general

Protest over India's new Burma policy has been muted

By Vir Singh in Delhi

India has rolled out the red carpet for a delegation from the military junta in Burma led by General Maung Aye, the country's second most powerful official.

We are a peaceful country and welcome foreign investment.

General Maung Aye

His week-long visit, at the invitation of India's Vice-President Krishan Kant, is the latest in a series of high-level exchanges between the two countries and marks a turnaround by India which has long castigated Burma's military junta for suppressing the country's pro-democracy movement led by Aung San Suu Kyi.

The change has been spurred by concerns about Burma's growing links with China and Pakistan and by a firm offer to help police border areas and boost trade.

Just how far India is prepared to go to woo its eastern neighbour was clear on Friday as General Maung Aye, who is deputy head of Burma's State Peace and Development Council and commander-in-chief of the army, met politicians and business leaders in the Indian capital, Delhi.

Drug trafficking

General Aye held talks with Home Minister L K Advani about how both countries could jointly crack down on various insurgent movements and drug trafficking and promote economic co-operation along their 1,600 km border.

Later, he spoke of investment opportunities in an address at the Confederation of Indian Industry.

"We have changed our economic system to make it market-oriented and have allowed privatisation of the state sector," the general said.

Most newspapers here have expressed satisfaction at the new line being taken by Delhi.

"India's Myanmar [Burma] policy took a leisurely dozen years to evolve from moralising to engagement," noted the Hindustan Times.

"This is only partly because of sympathy for Ms Suu Kyi. The snail's pace of India's engagement is more about failing to prioritise interests regarding Myanmar and being overly influenced by the West."

India's defence minister has been a vocal critic of Burma

Closer ties with Burma are viewed as a part of India's refurbished "Look East" policy focusing on south-east Asian nations.

Earlier this month, Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha and External Affairs Minister Jaswant Singh visited Laos and Vietnam to strengthen bilateral ties.

General Maung Aye is scheduled to hold talks with Mr Advani and to call on President K R Narayanan and Vice-President Kant.

He is to meet Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee as well as External Affairs Minister Singh on Monday.

Dissidents

One glaring omission from this list is Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes.

Indian media reports have focused on his support for Burmese dissidents living here.

The socialist minister has been one of the loudest critics of Burma and China for their suppression of democracy movements.

On Thursday, police in the Indian capital stopped a protest by about 100 Burmese opposed to the military regime and briefly detained some of them.