Military chief Than Shwe on goodwill visit to India

The Times of India
RANGOON - Burma's junta chief Senior General Than Shwe departed on Sunday for a goodwill visit to India at the invitation of the Indian president, officials confirmed.

Than Shwe departed Naypyitaw International Airport for a five-day official visit as guest of President Pratibha Patil, government officials in the military's capital said.

Than Shwe heads the State Peace and Development Council, as Burma's junta styles itself. He last visited India in October 2004.

India has cultivated close diplomatic ties with military-run Burma over the past decade to pursue economic and security interests and counterbalance China's growing clout in the country, which sits between the two Asian giants.

Burma's government sources said Than Shwe's visit was "religious in nature", although it would include discussions on border security and economic cooperation.

Burma, a former British colony with close economic ties to India prior to independence in 1948, has been under military rule since 1962.

The current regime is deemed a pariah by Western democracies for its refusal to free opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has spent 15 of the past 21 years under house arrest, and reluctance to introduce democratic reforms.

India, by contrast, is deemed Asia's most dynamic democracy.

Burma's junta is expected to soon announce a date for a general election this year.

The anticipated polls have already been condemned by Western democracies for excluding Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy.

Burma's new constitution assures the military can control an elected legislature through its veto power in the Senate, where one-quarter of the seats are to be appointees by the military.
Than Shwe agreed to shed uniform for Mahatma Gandhi's samadhi

The Times of India/PR-inside.com

NEW DELHI - Amid intense international scrutiny, Burma's military ruler and chairman of ruling State Peace and Development Council Senior General Than Shwe, who has doggedly clung on to power and refused to shed his uniform all these years, is willing to make a rare exception during his five-day visit to India that begins on Sunday.

Striking a positive note, as well as sparing Indian authorities a last-minute hiccup, the military strongman has agreed to visit Rajghat on Monday in civvies.

Earlier, authorities had officially requested Than Shwe, who has rarely been seen without uniform, to shed his military attire for the visit to Mahatma Gandhi's samadhi. The Senior General will begin his visit from Gaya in Bihar, where he will land on Sunday, and reach the capital on Monday evening.

The visit has already elicited protests from human rights groups and Burmese nationals in India, who are opposing the government's decision to host the military junta ruler, known for his scant regard to democracy and dissent.

Burma has been under military rule since 1962. Thane Shew has been described by the "Foreign Policy" magazine as the world's third-worst dictator, who has been holding the reins of power for the past 18 years.

Government sources, however, said his visit should be seen in the context of the fact that Burma is at least showing signs of ushering in a democratic process -- even though under the garb of the military rule -- and also India's own strategic interests in the region, considering the growing Chinese influence in the country. Burma also has huge oil and gas reserves, which are being eyed by many Asian countries.

By the end of this year, Burma is expected to hold elections for the first time since 1990. Several of the top military rulers, however, have done away with their uniforms, at the behest of Than Shwe, to take part in the electoral process, which has given rise to fears that the military will not let go of power that easily.

Than Shwe rarely travels abroad and his visit is also being seen in the light of the recent differences between Burma and China over the issue of armed ethnic groups in the northern part of Burma. "China may have supported some of these groups to keep them under its control, and this has irked the military," said a government official.

General Myanmar junta plays religion, not business, trump card as he tries to win over Indian hearts. Shwe named the “world’s third-worst dictator” behind North Korea’s Kim Jong Il and Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe by the Foreign Policy magazine to start his Indian sojourn from Bodh Gaya and seek India’s assistance to help to restore a famous Buddhist pagoda, Ananda Temple, in Burma. Burma wants the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to restore the over 900-year-old structure. The temple whose architecture is similar to temples in Bengal and Orissa is located in the Bagan region.

Sources said that India is hoping to expand engagement at all levels, but mainly economic, with Burma during talks with the Senior General. He is scheduled to hold meetings with the President, Prime Minister, vice president, foreign minister and the leader of the opposition during his stay. PM Manmohan Singh is expected to tell Than Shwe that any process of national reconciliation and political reform should include each one of the close to 20 ethnic groups in the country.

Apart from security and border issues, India is looking forward to cooperation in cross-border developmental projects, oil and gas, power, railways, telecommunications, education and training.

On business list to deliberate with Ratan Tata possibly to set up a vehicle plant. Burma produces only Jeeps and there is a huge demand of four-wheeler trucks and cars. He is likely to visit to ICT cos, infotech and pharmaceutical companies in Hyderabad. During foreign secretary Nirupama Rao's visit to Burma this year, the two sides stressed the need for greater vigilance at the border, and also agreed to enhance security cooperation to combat insurgent groups and arms smuggling.

Anger over India’s plan to welcome the junta chief

The National, UAE

MUMBAI (AFP) - Dissidents and Burmese exiles in India expressed outrage at the government’s planned welcome for Burma’s military ruler, Senior General Than Shwe, who arrives today on an official visit.

Gen Than Shwe is expected to begin his five-day tour in Bodh Gaya, a renowned Buddhist pilgrimage site in the eastern state of Bihar. After that he is scheduled to fly to New Delhi to meet the Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh. The two leaders were expected to sign a series of military and trade deals over two days.

Burma, an isolated country neighbouring India, is considered to be one of the most authoritarian regimes in the world. Last month, Foreign Policy magazine ranked Gen Than Shwe as the world’s “third worst dictator” after Kim Jong-il of North Korea and Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe.

Gen Than Shwe’s trip, widely speculated to be organised at the behest of India, has drawn heavy criticism from the Burmese exiles.

The Burma Centre Delhi, a non-profit organisation representing pro-democracy Burmese activists and refugees living in India, wrote in a letter to Mr Singh last week: “Prime Minister Singh, as the leader of the biggest democracy in the world, you must take a lead in pressuring Than Shwe to uphold basic democratic principles that are so far being ignored in [Myanmar]. Your silence will [depict] your double standards.”

India has long been an advocate of democracy to be restored in Burma, which has been under military rule since 1962. In 1993, India gave one of its highest civilian awards to Aung San Suu Kyi, the opposition leader who has been under house arrest for 14 of the last 20 years.

But in recent years, India has revealed its interest in cultivating close political, economic and military ties with the junta, allowing its strategic priorities to override concerns about democracy and human rights.

Muan Kim, 33, the co-ordinator of Burma Centre Delhi, said the junta was notorious for human-rights abuses against its own population. There are currently 2,171 political prisoners locked up in jails. The United Nations, which claims many of these detentions are illegal, has long been asking for their unconditional release.

Mr Muan Kim said: “If India continues to engage with such a government, our people will never forgive the world’s largest democracy for betraying the cause of democracy.”

He said he was in the process of organising protests in Bodh Gaya. Even before Gen Than Shwe’s arrival, the town was festooned with posters “telling Than Shwe to go to hell”.

Burma, which has not held elections since 1990, is expected to open polls later this year. But many countries are calling the exercise questionable, saying that it is expected to entrench the military’s grip over power. Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy is expected to boycott the polls.

“Than Shwe’s trip is aimed at seeking India’s endorsement of these elections,” Mr Muan Kim said.

The Indian government has not commented on the purpose of Gen Than Shwe’s trip and has not responded to the criticism of the Burmese exiles.

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, expressed concerns on Friday about the growing military ties between Myanmar and North Korea. Burma is suspected of beginning a nuclear weapons programme with the help of Pyongyang.

Burma denies it is trying to build an atomic bomb. But analysts warn that its growing economic connections with growing powers such as India and China could soon give the isolated nation the ability to build one.

Christian Le Mire, the editor of Jane’s Intelligence Review, a London-based journal on military intelligence, said this month: “With Burma’s current freedom from sanctions and relative economic prosperity, the junta may be able to outsource the technical know-how and tools to reach its goals far sooner than expected.”

Jane’s Intelligence Review also said that it accessed satellite images of an installation near Naypyidaw, that it claims is part of its secret programme to build nuclear weapons.

Burma’s growing economic and military ties with China and India have rendered toothless sanctions imposed by EU and the US to put pressure on the junta. In 2007, India sparked cries of outrage from Amnesty International when it was reported that it planned to sell Burma an unknown number of advanced light helicopters made with components from at least six EU countries and the US, which breached an international arms embargo on Burma in place since 1988.

Last year, India’s trade with Burma reached US$1.19 billion (Dh4.4bn), a 26 per cent increase over the previous year.

On his trip to Hyderabad, Gen Than Shwe is expected to broker a deal with Tata motors, an Indian car-making giant, to set up an automobile factory in Burma.

Burma and China agree to develop Kachin hydropower plant

dpa (Deutsche Presse-Agentur)

Rangoon - State-controlled companies from Burma and China have inked a deal to build a 1,055-megawatt hydropower plant on the Ngawchanka river in Kachin province, news reports said Sunday.

The signing of an agreement was witnessed Friday by Burma's Minister for Electric Power No (1) Zaw Min and Yunnan Provincial Investment Holding Group chairman Bao Minghu, the New Light of Myanmar reported.

The project will be implemented in five stages by a joint venture between China's YPIC International Energy Cooperation & Development Company and Burma's International Group of Entrepreneurs Company.

The Ngawchanhka project is expected to export its electricity to neighbouring Yunnan province in southern China.

Workshop on ASEAN strategic transport plan held in Myanmar

YANGON (Xinhua) - The panel of ASEAN Secretariat has held a workshop in Yangon to draft an ASEAN strategic transport plan (ASTP) for 2011-15, the official daily New Light of Myanmar reported Saturday.

The workshop on Friday was held with officials of Myanmar's transport department, organizations, private associations and relevant departments, the report said without giving the details.

The panel, formed by the ASEAN Secretariat, is composed of experts from the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia.

The panel tours member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) for holding such workshops.

The previous Vientiane Action Program (VAP) for 2004-2010 is to conclude this year.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
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