Joining the seminar online, former Foreign Secretary and SIPG Professor Mohammad Shahidul Haq said Myanmar is an important neighbor of India as it is the only country that connects ASEAN countries by road. Like China, India also maintains relations with Myanmar’s military rulers. India wants to advance its relations with Myanmar.
MD Mahbubul Haq, a professor at Malaysia’s Sultan Joynal Abedin University, said ASEAN countries are hesitant to take steps to resolve the Myanmar crisis. It is not possible for this alliance to take any drastic action in this regard as ASEAN follows the principle of ‘non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries’.
NSU Associate Professor Raymond Kwun-sun Lau said sanctions from the US and its European allies will not change the Myanmar military junta’s actions. The Myanmar crisis is deepening as China is trying to keep the country in its fold.
Observers believe China is covertly supporting rebels in several locations in Myanmar, he said.