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News on India Papers on MAy 31st
Suu Kyi rules out compromise
May 30 1996, The Hindustan Times (New Delhi)
TOKYO, May 30 (AFP)
Myanmarese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has rejected the
idea of joining hands with the military to find a compromise to
promote democratisation, a Japanese, a Japanese daily published today
said.
In an interview with Asahi Shimbum yesterday, Aung San Suu Kyi
said the idea of having a certain number of military officers in any
government, as proposed by a Burmese national daily, was
unacceptable.
The leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD) told the
paper it was impossible to make such a compromise even if it was to
speed up the democratisation.
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May 30 1996., The Asian Age (New Delhi)
Suu Kyi rejects compromise with military
Thanks to world community
Tokyo May 30: Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi has
rejected the idea of joining hands with the military to find a
compromise to promote democratisation, a Japanese daily published on
Tuesday.
In an interview on Wednesday with the Asahi Shimbum, Ms Suu Kyi
said the idea of having certain number of military officers in any
government, as proposed by a Burmese national daily, was
'unacceptable' to her National League for Democracy. The leader of
the NLD told the paper it was 'impossible' to make such a
compromise. She further clarified that even if such a compromise held
the promise of a speedy transition to democracy in Burma, her party
would not accept an offer from the military. She said her group could
not trust military junta, which disregarded the 1990 elections results.
in
these elections even though her party emerged as the party with the
largest majority she said she appreciate international interest in the
convention on May 26-28. (AFP)
Junta Blames foreigners
Rangoon, May 30: Burmas military rulers on Thursday step up
denunciation of foreign interference in country an continued verbal and
written attacks on the democracy movement led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
The government ran slogans in newspapers and as scrolling headlines
on television, including 'Oppose foreign nations interference in internal
affairs of the state,' 'Crush all internal and external destructive
elements as the common enemy,' and 'Oppose those relying on
external elements, acting as stooges, holding negative views.' Two
government-sponsored rallies on Wednesday with crowds estimated by
state-run media at 100,000 chanted slogans condemning pro-democracy
activists and what it called the influence of foreigners on them.
The rallies, which diplomats said were organized by government with
the military forcing people to attend, have occurred all week since
democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi defined numerous arrests to hold a
meeting. (Reuter)
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India for sustaining ties with Myanmar
May 30 1996, The Hindu (New Delhi)
>From C. Raja Moan
News Analysis
As Daw Aung San Suu Kyi steps up her political offensive against
military leadership in Myanmar, the Indian Government is determined
to pursue the carefully-constructed policy of functional cooperation with
the government in Yangon. New Delhi believes it has a set of core
interests, that demand enduring state-to state cooperation irrespective
of the other political developments.
The government is fully conscious of the profound popular empathy in
India for the democratic aspirations in Myanmar and the special
affection that Ms. Suu Kyi enjoys among the Indian people. But the
Indian government is unlikely to join the Western world demanding
international sanctions against Yangon and its further isolation. India
believes that national reconciliation is the immediate task in
Myanmar and hopes that a new Constitution in tune with the
aspirations of the people will emerge out of the process of national
reconciliation.
Indian officials characterise the current policy towards Myanmar as a
cooperative and working bilateral relationship involving a number
of areas. The current cooperation from Yangon, officials say, has been
considerable value in controlling the flow of illicit arms and narcotics
across the North-Eastern border and has allowed India get a better grip
over the insurgent movements in the region. The cooperation with
Yangon in border management has been widely appreciated by the State
governments in the North-East. The security agencies are unanimous in
the view that without cooperation from Yangon, managing the situation
in the North-East could be extremely burdensome.
Nevertheless, New Delhis muted official voice on the struggle for
democracy in Myanmar will disappoint the activists from Myanmar and
their numerous friends in India. But the Government in convinced that
the current policy of functional cooperation with Myanmar is based on
pro-found national security interests that New Delhi can hardly ignore.
It is based on a difficult reconciliation, on the on hand, of Indias
natural tendencies towards supporting democratic aspirations in the
neighbourhood and, on the other hand, the importance of avoiding
interference in the internal affairs of neighbouring countries and
maintaining cooperative relations with them.
Agonising internal debate
The current Indian policy towards Myanmar has emerged out an
agonising internal debate. As the courageous struggle for democracy
unfolded in Myanmar during the late 1980s, there was a uprising of
popular support in India. New Delhi backed the movement to overthrow
the military regime, with considerable enthusiasm. This resulted in
utterly strained relations with the government of Yangon. A
comprehensive review of the relations with Myanmar in the early 1990s
resulted in a new policy of functional cooperation with Myanmar.
The review of the Indian attitude had to take into account the decision
by the South-East Asian Nations and Japan to initiate a policy of
constructive engagement with the military rulers in Yangon. Given
the sporadic Western attention towards Myanmar, India was all but
isolated in its backing for pro-democracy movement. The dramatic
expansion since the late 1980s of the Chinese influence in Myanmar
that included substantive military cooperation between the two
countries had an important bearing on the makeover of the Indian
policy.
As Yangon itself began to look for cooperative relations with many
countries and avoid excessive dependence on any one great power, it
became possible for New Delhi to begin a process of beneficial
bilateralism with Yangon. The ties between India and Myanmar have
begun to improve since the early 1990s. However, there have been
important hiccups too.
The decision last year to award the Jawaharlal Nehru for international
understanding to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi generated bitterness in
Yangon and a new chill between the two countries. New Delhi
impressed upon Yangon the sincere desire of the Indian government to
maintain sustained cooperation with Myanmar and the importance of
differentiating between the popular enthusiasm in India for Ms. Suu
Kyi and the approach of the Indian Government New Delhi hopes that
the present policy of preserving inter-State relations between the two
countries will not be affected by the current political turmoil in
Myanmar.
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Typed by News & Information Dept. of FTUB (WB)
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