Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
India says it has no ambition to export ideologies and values to other countries, including Myanmar, saying that the people of each country should decide what type of government they want.
Responding to a question about India's stance on the human rights situation in Myanmar, Indian Minister of External Affairs Pranab Mukherjee said India would continue to develop a stronger relationship with Myanmar as it believes shortcomings in some sectors should not hinder cooperation in others.
Mukherjee was speaking at a program organized by the Indonesian Council on World Affairs on Monday at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jakarta. His speech was titled ""India's Growing Engagement with East Asia"".
Mukherjee said that as Myanmar is the only Southeast Asian country to share a land border with India, several Indian insurgent groups operate out of Myanmar.
""That is why we need Myanmar's cooperation to deal with these insurgents,"" Mukherjee, who was in Indonesia on a two-day official visit, said.
He said India has cooperated with Myanmar in many areas, including building infrastructure such as roads and ports and oil and gas exploration.
""We have strong economic relations with Myanmar and we should consider all aspects of the relationship. However, we hope that Myanmar keeps its own promise of moving toward a democratic path,"" he said.
Many experts have said India's increasing involvement in Myanmar has been driven by fear that if it leaves the country, the junta will lean closer to China.
While India may have a stable political system with democratic credentials and a burgeoning economy, it is surrounded by countries with serious problems.
After explaining the current situations in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, Mukherjee said India wanted its neighbors to resolve their problems peacefully as it would never interfere in the domestic affairs of sovereign states or force its own values on them.
However, he said India has been helping Sri Lanka in the area of defense by providing training to Sri Lankan troops in Indian defense institutions.
Mukherjee said although India has had long-running problems in relation to its border with China, the two countries have agreed to foster economic relations.
""While we remain fully conscious of our outstanding differences with China, including on the boundary question, the basic paradigm of our approach is to seek development ties, without allowing these differences to define the agenda of our relationship,"" Mukherjee said.
He said that while some degree of healthy competition between the two countries was inevitable, particularly in the area of trade and commerce, India believed there was enough space and opportunity in the region and beyond for both India and China to grow together.
""In our view, the India-China partnership is an important determinant for regional and global peace and development and for Asia's emergence as the political and economic center of the new international order,"" Mukherjee said.
The two countries established a strategic and cooperative partnership for peace and prosperity during the visit of China's Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to India in 2005.
Mukherjee also said India wants to establish close ties between regional organizations.
""We would like to have institutional linkages between SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations),"" Mukherjee said.
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