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Despite Dhaka's plea, India refrain from publicly nudging Myanmar on return of Rohingyas from Bangladesh
Anirban Bhaumik, DHNS, New Delhi,
India's foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla. Credits: File Photo
Notwithstanding recent pleas by Dhaka, New Delhi on Thursday refrained from publicly nudging Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in Nay Pyi Taw to expeditiously take back nearly a million Rohingyas, who had fled ethnic cleansing in Myanmar and took refuge in Bangladesh.
New Delhi, however, discussed with Nay Pyi Taw the development projects in Myanmar’s restive Rakhine State, where the Rohingyas fled from and sailed in small boats across the Bay of Bengal to take refuge in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.
Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Thursday had a virtual meeting with his counterpart in Myanmar Government, U Soe Han. They reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations, including border cooperation and upgradation of border infrastructure, the status of India’s ongoing development projects in Myanmar, bilateral trade and investment ties as well as power and energy cooperation.
Shringla noted during his meeting with U Soe Han that New Delhi’s cooperation with Nay Pyi Taw under the Rakhine State Development Programme continued apace. He also noted that India and Myanmar had of late started trilateral cooperation with Japan to create “soft infrastructure” for 15 schools in the Rakhine State.
Foreign Secretary also stated that New Delhi would continue efforts towards ensuring an early, safe and sustainable repatriation of the internally displaced persons in Myanmar.
He, however, did not directly refer to the issue of repatriation of nearly one million Rohingyas, who had fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh.
The press release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) too did not have any mention on the return of the refugees from Bangladesh to Myanmar.
“The progress in the Rakhine State Development Programme, which is being implemented under our development cooperation project, was discussed,” Anurag Srivastava, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said when a journalist asked him if the repatriation of the return of the Rohingyas from Bangladesh to Myanmar had been touched upon during the virtual meeting between the Foreign Secretary and his counterpart in Nay Pyi Daw.
The India-Myanmar virtual Foreign Office Consultation on Thursday came just two days after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his counterpart in Bangladesh Government, A K Abdul Momen, had a video conference. A joint statement issued after Jaishankar-Momen video conference noted that the two ministers reiterated the importance of the “safe, speedy and sustainable return” of the “forcibly displaced” Rohingyas from Bangladesh to Myanmar.
Momen also told Jaishankar that Bangladesh would expect India, which would start its two-year stint as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, to play during its stint on the horse-shoe table a “more meaningful role” to ensure a safe and sustainable return of the Rohingyas from Bangladesh to Myanmar.
The minority Rohingyas have since long been victims of persecution in the Rakhine State, where Buddhists constitute the majority. They have been denied citizenship and most of them have been stateless, despite living for generations in Myanmar.
Myanmar's armed forces launched the latest military crackdown against the Rohingyas on August 25, 2017, after a militant outfit killed 12 security personnel in Rakhine. With hundreds of them killed and villages burnt down, over 742,000 more Rohingyas, including women and children, fled Myanmar and took refuge in Bangladesh, taking the number of refugees to nearly one million.
Anirban Bhaumik, DHNS, New Delhi,
- OCT 01 2020, 22:18 IST
- UPDATED: OCT 01 2020, 22:18 IST
Notwithstanding recent pleas by Dhaka, New Delhi on Thursday refrained from publicly nudging Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in Nay Pyi Taw to expeditiously take back nearly a million Rohingyas, who had fled ethnic cleansing in Myanmar and took refuge in Bangladesh.
New Delhi, however, discussed with Nay Pyi Taw the development projects in Myanmar’s restive Rakhine State, where the Rohingyas fled from and sailed in small boats across the Bay of Bengal to take refuge in Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.
Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla on Thursday had a virtual meeting with his counterpart in Myanmar Government, U Soe Han. They reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations, including border cooperation and upgradation of border infrastructure, the status of India’s ongoing development projects in Myanmar, bilateral trade and investment ties as well as power and energy cooperation.
Shringla noted during his meeting with U Soe Han that New Delhi’s cooperation with Nay Pyi Taw under the Rakhine State Development Programme continued apace. He also noted that India and Myanmar had of late started trilateral cooperation with Japan to create “soft infrastructure” for 15 schools in the Rakhine State.
Foreign Secretary also stated that New Delhi would continue efforts towards ensuring an early, safe and sustainable repatriation of the internally displaced persons in Myanmar.
He, however, did not directly refer to the issue of repatriation of nearly one million Rohingyas, who had fled from Myanmar to Bangladesh.
The press release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) too did not have any mention on the return of the refugees from Bangladesh to Myanmar.
“The progress in the Rakhine State Development Programme, which is being implemented under our development cooperation project, was discussed,” Anurag Srivastava, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said when a journalist asked him if the repatriation of the return of the Rohingyas from Bangladesh to Myanmar had been touched upon during the virtual meeting between the Foreign Secretary and his counterpart in Nay Pyi Daw.
The India-Myanmar virtual Foreign Office Consultation on Thursday came just two days after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his counterpart in Bangladesh Government, A K Abdul Momen, had a video conference. A joint statement issued after Jaishankar-Momen video conference noted that the two ministers reiterated the importance of the “safe, speedy and sustainable return” of the “forcibly displaced” Rohingyas from Bangladesh to Myanmar.
Momen also told Jaishankar that Bangladesh would expect India, which would start its two-year stint as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, to play during its stint on the horse-shoe table a “more meaningful role” to ensure a safe and sustainable return of the Rohingyas from Bangladesh to Myanmar.
The minority Rohingyas have since long been victims of persecution in the Rakhine State, where Buddhists constitute the majority. They have been denied citizenship and most of them have been stateless, despite living for generations in Myanmar.
Myanmar's armed forces launched the latest military crackdown against the Rohingyas on August 25, 2017, after a militant outfit killed 12 security personnel in Rakhine. With hundreds of them killed and villages burnt down, over 742,000 more Rohingyas, including women and children, fled Myanmar and took refuge in Bangladesh, taking the number of refugees to nearly one million.
