Do you think that by signing agreements with Than Shwe, India is indirectly supporting military rule?
Yes, in merely by doing deals with Than Shwe and bringing him to India; they’re [India’s leaders are] supporting an authoritarian system. But India’s doing this for some kind of self-interest; it’s not as if it loves dealing with dictators. They’re doing it to get trade opportunities and capture the influence from China, which is emerging and growing in Burma. I think India could have a better impact in different ways if a change were to emerge. It could still invest in and engage with Burma in far more productive ways for Burmese people if it just didn’t deal with the Burmese military. It needs to make it very clear that it will not sell any weapons to Burma; if it makes investments, those investments must benefit local communities and must be up to the international standards of human rights monitoring and human rights environmental impacts, absolutely. Also, [India should] seek a long-term growing engagement with Burmese civil society and I think India can play a very important role
