Acting as a first responder, India on Saturday launched ''Operation Brahma'' to assist the people of neighbouring Myanmar, which was rocked by a massive earthquake on Friday.
India will send more than 15 tonnes of relief material to Myanmar following a series of powerful earthquakes that has led to the death of over 144 people and injuring more than 700, sources said.
The United Nations is mobilising relief for quake-hit Myanmar where nearly 150 people have died, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday.
Another earthquake, with a magnitude of 4.2 on the Richter Scale, hit Myanmar late on Friday, the National Center for Seismology reported.
He extended his heartfelt prayers for the safety and well-being of those impacted by the calamity.
The other is that Suu Kyi’s virtual presence in court has come a day after at least 18 protesters were killed by security forces in the bloodiest crackdown since the military takeover. Thirteen more were done to death on Wednesday.
So, as the West continues dilly-dallying over providing direct support to the Aung San Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy due to her vilification on the Rohingya issue, Asean makes the right noises in support of pro-democracy protesters but seems unwilling to do anything more, and Beijing waits patiently in the wings as its influence in Myanmar grows, India has a decision to make.
The till recently ruling Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy had, it must not be forgotten, not only attempted to reduce the military’s political authority but also outright denied the Tatmadaw’s demand for an investigation into the November 2020 General Election which was the pretext used by the military dictatorship to assume all political power.
Myanmar was controlled by military for half a century (1962-2011) until democratic reforms led by Suu Kyi ended military rule. The 2015 General elections of Myanmar were the first openly contested elections since 1990.
In the net, the American President has signaled an exceptionally robust initiative against the intervention of the junta in the immediate aftermath of yet another victory of the National League for Democracy
