New Delhi, India – In his second trip to India, United Nations Special Envoy to Burma, Ibrahim Gambari, arrived in New Delhi on Monday and is scheduled to meet with Indian government officials, a UN spokesperson said.
Rajiv Chandran, Information Officer for the UN in New Delhi, said the Special Envoy arrived on Monday evening and will begin official meetings on Wednesday.
"We [the UN] have requested four appointments, with the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Minister, Prime Minister and Vice President," Chandran said.
Chandran, however, said Gambari is unlikely to hold any press conference during the trip and the Indian government has yet to respond to the meeting requests.
Gambari, who will travel to China later, is expected to discuss with Indian leaders how best to push for democratic reform in military-ruled Burma.
The Special Envoy, in his earlier visit to New Delhi, said he was satisfied with the Indian response to the UN Secretary General's initiative for reforms in Burma.
However, the Nigerian diplomat urged India to further use its leverage on Burma to pressure the military junta to implement reforms.
India came under the international spotlight and was widely criticized for its failure to condemn the Burmese military junta for its use of violence to crackdown on protestors in September.
India, which also shares an over 1,400 kilometer porous border with Burma, is being attacked by rights groups as well as by Western nations for its reported supply of military hardware to the Burmese generals.
However India, in a turn of events, has since raised its voice and urged the Burmese military junta to restrain from the use of violence and called for a broad-based dialogue with opposition groups toward kick-starting national reconciliation.
But critics say India's policy on Burma remains hypocritical. While India has made rhetorical calls for changes in troubled Burma, it maintains and official relationship with the generals, including the signing of agreements and memorandum of understandings for an enhanced economic relationship.
In what seems to be a refute of the criticisms made by human rights groups and Western nations on its supply of military hardware to Burmese generals, unconfirmed information that it has ceased its supply of military hardware to Burma has spread among the media, making critics think India is shifting its policy on Burma.
However, Rahul Bedi, a Jane's Defence Weekly correspondent who covers Indo-Burmese military relations, says India has never changed its policy and has not ceased all supplies of military hardware to the generals.
"But, India has temporarily halted the supply of military hardware following the September protests," Bedi told Mizzima.
Following the Burmese general's bloody crackdown on protests led by Buddhist monks in September, India was widely criticized for its silence and continuing engagement with the junta.
"In response to international calls, India has temporarily halted the supply of military hardware to the Burmese junta", Bedi said, adding that "we cannot assume that India has totally stopped its arms supply to the generals."
He added that India has its own interests to look after in terms of dealing with the Burmese generals, and increasing Chinese influence in the Southeast Asian nation seems to pose a greater threat for Indian policy makers rather than continuing its vague support for democracy and human rights in Burma.
While the Burmese crisis seems to be sandwiched between its two giant neighbors' struggles for greater influence on the internationally isolated country, both Indian and Chinese leaders have expressed their support for the UN Secretary General's initiative to push for reforms in Burma.
Gambari, who is New Delhi to garner fresh support, is expected to highlight the importance of India's role and is likely to urge India to use its leverage on the Burmese generals to implement reforms.
Following his Indian visit Gambari will visit China, but Chandran said, "He will leave on 31st January, the day after his meeting with the Indian government and will not go directly to China from here, it will be later."
