Page 2 - Myanmar

Not convinced about UNSC resolution's impact on issues in Myanmar: India

India has said that it is still not convinced about the impact the UN Security Council resolution would have in making progress towards resolving the long-standing issues in Myanmar, including an immediate end to violence in the neighbouring country and the release of political prisoners like Aung San Suu Kyi. The 15-nation Security Council, under India's Presidency this month, adopted its first-ever resolution on Myanmar on Wednesday. The resolution reiterated the call by the 15-member Council for the country to uphold democratic institutions and respect human rights. Twelve members voted in favour, none against, while India, China and Russia abstained. As Myanmar's neighbour, we are still not convinced about the impact this resolution would have in making progress towards a resolution of the issues in Myanmar. However, we do hope that all parties in the country will abjure all violence and return to the path of dialogue, India's Permanent Representative to the UN and President of

India, China and Russia abstain on first UNSC resolution against Myanmar

India, China and Russia abstained in the UN Security Council on a draft resolution that demanded an immediate end to violence in Myanmar and urged the military junta to release political prisoners, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. The 15-nation Security Council, under India's Presidency this month, adopted the resolution Wednesday after 12 members voted in favour, none against and India, China and Russia abstained. This is the first Security Council resolution adopted on Myanmar in 74 years. The only other UNSC resolution on Myanmar was in 1948 after the country formerly known as Burma got independence from Britain when the Council recommended to the General Assembly that the Union of Burma be admitted to membership in the United Nations. India's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, presiding over the meeting, delivered the explanation of the vote in her national capacity and said New Delhi believes that the complex situation in Myanmar calls for

Illegal liquor: Consumption may be up, but deaths show the opposite trend

India has a higher per capita consumption of illegal liquor than most countries in the neighbourhood

UNGA postpones decision on Afghanistan and Myanmar assembly seats

The UN General Assembly has postponed the decision on whether representatives of the Taliban authorities in Afghanistan and Myanmar's military junta can take their countries' seats in the 193-member world body. The UN Credentials Committee had before it two communications concerning the representation of Afghanistan at the 77th session of the general assembly, indicating different individuals as representatives to the current session. The first was dated September 6 this year from the Charge d'affaires of Afghanistan to the United Nations in New York. The second was dated September 17 in 2022 from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan. The committee also had before it two communications concerning the representation of Myanmar at the 77th session of the General Assembly, indicating different individuals as representatives to the 77th session of the assembly. The first was dated August 19 in 2022 from the Permanent Representative of Myanmar to the United Nations in New York

5.2-magnitude quake hits Myanmar's Mandalay region; some buildings damaged

The quake was strongly felt in Mandalay and Sagaing regions

Bangladesh seeks India's cooperation to peacefully repatriate Rohingyas

Bangladesh, which is hosting over a million Rohingya refugees, has sought India's cooperation to peacefully repatriate the people who were forced to take refuge in the country to evade persecution in Myanmar, officials said on Monday. Parliament Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury sought India's assistance when Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka Pranay Kumar Verma called on her at the Sangsad Bhaban (Parliament House) on Sunday. "The speaker told the envoy that Bangladesh extended refuge to this huge number of Rohingyas, pointing out that India, as well, had given shelter to Bangladeshis during our 1971 Liberation War and the people recall that episode with respect," a Jatiya Sangsad Secretariat spokesman said. Chaudhury, he said, sought Indian support for the peaceful repatriation of the forcibly displaced Rohingyas to their homeland in Myanmar's Rakhine state, which they fled to evade a ruthless persecution under a military crackdown in 2017. Over a million Rohingyas fled Myanmar to

India seized 833 kg gold worth Rs 405 cr in FY22, highest from Myanmar

The highest amount of gold seized was of Myanmar origin, marking a significant shift from 2019-20, when the majority of it was from West Asia

UN human rights chief condemns new Myanmar death sentences to crush Oppn

Myanmar's military-installed government has sentenced more critics to death, bringing the total to 139, and is using capital punishment as a tool to crush opposition, the UN high commissioner for human rights said Friday. High Commissioner Volker Trk said at least seven university students were sentenced to death behind closed doors on Wednesday, and there are reports that as many as four more youth activists were sentenced on Thursday. The military continues to hold proceedings in secretive courts in violation of basic principles of fair trial and contrary to core judicial guarantees of independence and impartiality, Trk said in a statement. Military courts have consistently failed to uphold any degree of transparency contrary to the most basic due process or fair trial guarantees. The military seized power in February last year, ousting the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The army's action was met with widespread peaceful protests that were quashed with lethal force, ...

IndiGo CarGo operates 1st international flight between Kolkata, Yangon

IndiGo CarGo operated its first international flight between Kolkata and Yangon, Myanmar

India's foreign secretary visits Myanmar, discusses border management

India's Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra on Monday concluded a two-day visit to Myanmar during which he discussed issues relating to border management and security. Kwatra's visit came amid escalating violence between ethnic armed organisations and the Myanmar army that could have some impact on the border regions in India's northeastern states. External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said the foreign secretary paid a working visit to Myanmar on November 20 and 21. "Held discussions on important bilateral issues relating to border management, security and ongoing bilateral cooperation projects and India's support to democratic transition in Myanmar," Bagchi said on Twitter. India shares a 1,643-km border with Myanmar that stretches from the India-Myanmar-China trijunction in Arunachal Pradesh to the India-Myanmar -Bangladesh trijunction in Mizoram. The military junta seized power in Myanmar after a coup in February last year, derailing the experiment with limited ..

US expands sanctions on Myanmar, North Korea's aviation, defence sectors

The Biden administration is expanding sanctions against the aviation and defense sectors of North Korea and Myanmar as it continues to punish the two countries for weapons-related violations of US and United Nations regulations and human rights abuses. The Treasury Department announced Tuesday that it had imposed penalties on two agents for North Korea's state-owned airline Air Koryo and redesignated a previously sanctioned North Korean cyber agency that it said launders profits from cryptocurrency heists to further Pyongyang's weapons programs. Treasury also announced sanctions against the Myanmar aviation firm Sky Aviator Company Limited and its owner for facilitating weapons purchases for the country's military government to crackdown on protesters following a February 2021 coup. North Korean agents Ri Sok, an Air Koryo representative based in China, and Yan Zhihong, an airline logistics manager, were targeted with sanctions for their support for for North Korea's nuclear weapons

After 3-yr lull, IndiGo to resume flights to China, Myanmar from March 2023

IndiGo used to operate daily flights on Delhi-Chengdu, Kolkata-Guangzhou, Kolkata-Yangon routes till early 2020

Wildlife experts red flag care of exotic animals smuggled in from Myanmar

While smuggling of endangered and exotic animals from Myanmar has been rising, the upkeep, nursing, protection and care of the recovered wild animals is not always appropriate and adequate

FATF called for enhanced due diligence on Myanmar following blacklist: RBI

Earlier in February 2020, Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and Iran was put on blacklist by the anti-terror financing and anti-money laundering watchdog

UN envoy: Myanmar crisis deepens, taking 'catastrophic toll on people'

The UN special envoy for Myanmar warned Tuesday that the political, human rights and humanitarian crisis in the military-ruled Southeast Asian nation is deepening and taking a catastrophic toll on the people. Noeleen Heyzer told the U.N. General Assembly's human rights committee that more than 13.2 million people don't have enough to eat, 1.3 million are displaced and the military continues operations using disproportionate force including bombings, burnings of homes and buildings, and the killing of civilians. Heyzer's briefing was her first at the U.N. in New York since she visited Myanmar in August and met the head of the military government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing. She said the meeting was part of broader efforts by the U.N. to urgently support a return to civilian rule. She stressed that there is a new political reality in Myanmar: a people demanding change, no longer willing to accept military rule. Heyzer said she made six requests during the meeting with the military's

Air strike during concert in Myanmar's Kachin state kills at least 60

Myanmar has been gripped by violence since the army overthrew an elected government early last year

FATF blacklists Myanmar, calls for due diligence to transactions in nation

Money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog FATF has put Myanmar on the "black list" and has called on members to apply enhanced due diligence to business relations and transactions in Myanmar

Graft convictions extend ex-Myanmar leader Suu Kyi's prison term to 26 yrs

A court in military-ruled Myanmar convicted the country's ousted leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, on two more corruption charges on Wednesday, with two three-year sentences, to be served concurrently, added to previous convictions that now leave her with a 26-year total prison term. Suu Kyi, 77, was detained on February 1, 2021, when the military seized power from her elected government. She has denied the allegations against her in this case, in which she was accused of receiving USD 550,000 as a bribe from Maung Weik, a tycoon convicted several years ago of drug trafficking. She had already been sentenced to 23 years' imprisonment after being convicted of illegally importing and possessing walkie-talkies, violating coronavirus restrictions, breaching the country's official secrets act, sedition, election fraud and five other corruption charges. Supporters and independent analysts say all the charges are politically motivated and an attempt to discredit her and legitimise the military's

Myanmar's ex-leader Suu Kyi convicted again, gets sentence of 3 years

A court in military-ruled Myanmar convicted former leader Aung San Suu Kyi in another criminal case Thursday and sentenced Australian economist Sean Turnell to three years in prison for violating an official secrets law, a legal official said. Suu Kyi received a three-year sentence after being tried and convicted with Turnell under the secrets act, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to release information about the case. Three members of Suu Kyi's Cabinet were also found guilty, each also receiving sentences of three years in prison. Turnell, an associate professor in economics at Sydney's Macquarie University, had served as an adviser to Suu Kyi, who was detained when her elected government was ousted by the army in 2021. He was arrested five days later while waiting for a car to take him to the airport. The exact details of the offense have not been made public, though state television said last year that Turnell had access to secr

US expands, extends legal status for Myanmar immigrants to May 2024

The Biden administration has said it is expanding and extending temporary legal status in the US for several thousand people from Myanmar after a military coup last year in the Asian country. The Monday's decision extends Temporary Protected Status for 18 months for an estimated 970 people of Myanmar until May 25, 2024, and makes an additional 2,290 eligible to live and work until that date if they were in the United States on Sunday. People of Myanmar are continuing to suffer a complex and deteriorating humanitarian crisis due to a military coup, upheaval, and security forces' brutal violence against civilians", said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. Myanmar, also called Burma, has been ruled by the military for most of the past 70 years. The army's takeover interrupted a gradual transition toward democratic civilian government and a more modern, open economy and resulted in a slew of sanctions against the military, which controls many industries as well as army fami