India should persuade Junta talks: US
{image-White
House_09012008.jpg
news.oneindia.in}
Washington,
Jan
9:The
Bush
Administration
wants
India
to
use
its
influence
to
support
the
UN
efforts,
pressing
the
Burmese
military
regime
to
initiate
a
'genuine
dialogue'
with
the
country's
democratic
opposition.
US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns, in an article in the Washington Post, said ''three months have passed since the world called on the dictators, Gens Than Shwe and Maung Aye, to end their brutal crackdown on tens of thousands of peaceful monks and other demonstrators and begin a genuine dialogue with Burma's democratic and ethnic minority leaders -- with the goal of a transition to democracy.'' The time has come for them to act, he added.
With the strong backing of the UN Security Council, its special adviser Ibrahim Gambari has made two trips to Myanmar since the crackdown to try to facilitate a dialogue. Through him, democratic leader and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has reaffirmed her willingness to participate in a ''meaningful and time-bound'' dialogue to be joined by representatives of the country's ethnic minority groups.
This is a rare opportunity to help put Myanmar on the path to democratic civilian rule and to greater stability and prosperity, said Burns.
''It is critical that China, India, the ASEAN countries and Burma's other neighbors use any and all influence to support the UN effort and press the regime to initiate a dialogue. It is also why the United Nations should quicken the pace of its diplomacy,'' he stated.
UNI