India, China, Russia oppose sanctions on Myanmar call open dialogue

Harbin (China), Oct 24 Pranab Mukherjee in today's media report opposed imposing sanctions on Myanmar and pleaded for encouraging all stakeholders to advance political reforms and national reconciliation, a call jointly supported by China and Russia."We believe that the initiative taken by the UN Secretary General (Ban-Ki Moon) to open dialogue amongst the various stakeholders in Myanmar should be encouraged," External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said at a joint press conference after the end of the third standalone meeting of Foreign Ministers of India, China and Russia here.

Mukherjee said India has also suggested that the process of political reform and national reconciliation should be expedited on a broad base and equally among all stakeholders.

"We believe that Myanmar authorities should be encouraged to engage in the process of dialogue with the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General Ibrahim Gambari, the initiative which he has taken should be encouraged to take it to the logical conclusion and there should not be any sanctions at this stage," the minister emphasised.

Mukherjee acknowledged that the Myanmar issue had figured prominently during the trilateral meeting and they exchanged views on it.

Ultimately, the issue of Myanmar should be resolved by the Myanmarese government and the country's people, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said.

He said China believes that the parties concerned will conduct dialogue to help Myanmar restore stability and improve the life of the people and promote democracy and development in Myanmar.

Lawmakers in the US Senate has urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to join the international community in exerting pressure on Myanmar's military regime for restoration of democracy and release of all political prisoners.

"As the world's largest democracy, India should use its influence to put pressure on the regime to stop the violence against pro-democracy activists, release all political prisoners including Aung San Suu Kyi, and begin a true national dialogue on national reconciliation that will lead to a restoration of democratic government," the Senate Women's Caucus on Burma said in a letter to Singh.

"We are writing to ask your government to join the growing international condemnation of Burma's military government and its brutal repression of its own citizens," the Caucus led by Dianne Feinstein, Democrat from California, and Bailey Hutchison, Republican from Texas, said. PTI