open Democracy News Analysis - India and Burma: time to choose, Meenakshi Ganguly - Comments

KVB Tharoor on "India and Burma: time to choose"

KVB Tharoor — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 12:27:06 +0000

vsminocha, the Commonwealth doesn't need to take the lead on integration in South Asia... remember that such a regional body already exists - SAARC - and is beset with problems mostly borne out of India's disproportionate size and China's strategic interventions. I doubt the Commonwealth would make much of a difference, and I also doubt most countries in the region would want the Commonwealth to get involved.

vsminocha on "India and Burma: time to choose"

vsminocha — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 08:53:50 +0000

Meenakshi makes a worthy suggestion that the international community should take a closer and meaningful link at Burma and other countries in the neighbourhood of India. It occurs to me that all the countries including India she talks about were part of British India till some years back. British Empire has since metamorphosed into (British) Commonwealth, which is the most appropriate intetrnational agency in regard to what Meenakshi wants to see happen. How about taking the initiative of working for a regional chapter of the Commonwealth, with its memberhip restricted to the erstwhile territories of the British Empire in South Asia? Remembering that peace, democracy and economics go together, the top priority should be on regional integration of trade and investment flows.

BabarZM on "India and Burma: time to choose"

BabarZM — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 22:52:15 +0000

Perhaps a little light on the role of India in creating most trouble in the region (neighboring countries) to keep the story neutral would have been appreciated. The media darling, India has been pardoned from its fair share of criticism recently. The market size in market economy can do wonder for larger countries. Alas poor will never get their fair share of publicity.

agdnanaimo on "India and Burma: time to choose"

agdnanaimo — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 19:08:39 +0000

Excellent article. Concise and to the point. The relative quiet that has descended on international press comment on Burma renders articles such as this as all the more important. Keep it up.

India and Burma: time to choose, Meenakshi Ganguly

Mon, 14 Jan 2008 14:09:32 +0000

India's prime minister Manmohan Singh once despaired out loud that India was surrounded by failed states. The rest of the sub-continent, concerned about the military and economic might of India, was outraged. Yet, the neighbourhood is in more trouble than ever. Pakistan is in crisis, Sri Lanka is at war with itself, Bangladesh remains in a state of emergency under de facto army rule, the peace process in Nepal has stumbled and Burma's generals used abusive and at times lethal force to put down a peaceful campaign to demand democracy.

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