India concerned about well-being of Suu Kyi

On board President's Special Aircraft, Mar 14: Joining the chorus of international protests, India finally broke its silence on Myanmar's detained democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, making it explicit to the military junta that it was concerned about the Nobel Peace laureate's well-being.

''India has a lot of friendship with her father and is interested in her well-being,'' President A P J Abdul Kalam told Myanmar's State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) chairman Senior General Than Shwe during his just concluded six-day state visit to Myanmar and Mauritius.

''I discussed with the General India's interest in Suu Kyi's well-being and he said he would discuss the issue with his team and come back to India,'' Dr Kalam, who became the first Indian President to visit Myanmar, told newspersons, briefing on the outcome of his visit to the two countries.

India's strong prodding to Senior General Than Shwe for reviving the process of democratisation came barely days after US President George W Bush's landmark visit to New Delhi during which he blasted the military regime for its ''deplorable state of human rights'' in the South-East Asian country.

Asked whether the release of Ms Suu Kyi also figured during the talks, Dr Kalam said he was told by Senior General Than Shwe that his country had already initiated the democratic process and her release would be a part of it.

Ms Suu Kyi, who studied in India before moving to Oxford for higher education, has either been in jail or under house arrest for over 10 years of the past 16 years. Her latest detention period began on May 30, 2003, and it was extended by six months in December last year. She was only two when her father Gen Aung San, hailed as the ''maker of modern Myanmar', was shot dead in 1947.

The President, who was accompanied by Minister of State Kumari Selja and Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran during his visit, said India also offered to Myanmar all assistance in establishing a democratic structure in that country.

''India will offer all help in further pushing the democratic process in Myanmar,'' he said and referred to the seven-point roadmap charted out by the military junta in August 2003 for restoring the democratic system in the country.

Dr Kalam's visit marks the highest-level visit from India to Myanmar since former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi travelled to Yangon in December 1987. Interestingly, its was his first visit to a neighbouring country since taking office in July 2002.

Though India and Myanmar have had high-level contacts in recent years, with Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat visiting Yangon in November 2003 and Senior General Than Shwe coming to India in October 2004, Dr Kalam became the first Head of State to visit former Burma.

UNI