Daily Times

It does not surprise one any longer when news relating to the persecution of minorities surfaces in India. In yet another development, the BJP’s Hindutva-backed regime has been found to be expanding its network of terror beyond India’s borders by colluding with Myanmar’s outlawed junta. The military govt that staged a coup in February 2021 overthrew the civilian government of Noble laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, putting her and her party behind bars. The military junta in charge faces a grave legitimacy crisis from the global community at large with India being an exception. When the 2021 issue was debated in the UN General Assembly, India abstained from voting against it evincing its tacit support for the military setup in Naypyidaw. UN’s recent report titled Billion Dollar Death Trade exposed India’s massive arms shipments to the ports of Myanmar which the military junta is potentially using against its civilian population committing gross atrocities to suppress democratic voices in the country. The volume of arms exports from India increased significantly when an organised genocide began in the country against the Rohingya community in 2017. International bodies such as Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) and New Global Report on Arms Expenditure have claimed that half of India’s arms exports between the years 2017-21 have gone to Myanmar. The supplies included surveillance equipment, artillery, and missiles manufactured by Indian state-owned enterprises like Bharat Dynamics Limited.

Not only has India become an abettor of crimes against humanity in Myanmar but also a violator of the Wassenaar Arrangement which makes it incumbent on the signatories to increase transparency in their arms exports. The arrangement also prohibits its members from supplying and acquiring ‘dual use items’ meaning those that can be used for civilian as well as military purposes to and from a state that is a cause of concern for the region in which Myanmar is. There is overwhelming evidence available that the junta is involved in heinous war crimes yet the Indian state continues to aid and arm them knowing well to what ends they are being used. The UN’s Special Rapporteur has reported that $51 million worth of arms has been supplied directly to Myanmar’s military and arms dealers by Indian firms. Another state-owned enterprise named Bharat Electronics Limited is reported to have despatched Remote Controlled Weapons Station (RCWS) according to export data. A further six HJT-16 Kiran-1 light attack aircrafts were flown to former Burma with which India shares over a thousand-mile border.

The Indian representative claimed that any defence exports made to Myanmar over the period in question were part of the deal signed with the civilian government before the coup for the security interests of both nations. India could have suspended these supplies till democracy was restored in the country, yet it continues to empower the junta through this enormous flow of arms. The impact of this arms influx has been grievous for the civilians who are subjected to mass slaughter and destruction of their homes and villages. For instance, the fuses in the recoilless rifles used by the military to fire on people of the Kayin state where more than 10,000 were forced to flee from their homes were produced by Maharashtra-based Sandeep Metalcraft. Another firm called Yantra India supplied 122 mm gun barrels for Howitzers manufactured by Ka Pa Sa defence industries that were used by the artillery to shell villages.

The rapid militarization of the junta is only resulting in instability and civil war in the ASEAN member state. Not only is it wreaking havoc on innocent minorities but also this bellicose group surfeiting on Indian supplies is posing a glaring threat to other countries in the region as well as those part of the Wassenaar Arrangement which prohibits this sort of unchecked outflow of weapons and military technology. If the rogue regime in Myanmar gets hold of strategic weapons it could be a recipe for disaster and a compromise on global security. As a result of the crisis in Myanmar, India has refused to host the Rohingya refugees and those already in their custody are discriminately denied even the basic safeguards listed under International Refugee Law. If the Indian state has any regard for the dignity of human life, it must halt this multi-layered siphoning of military hardware until a stable, popular and legitimate government is established in Myanmar.

The writer is research intern at Islamabad Policy Research Institute.