India, Russia, China oppose sanctions on Myanmar

As the India-Russia-China troika meet concluded in Chinas northeastern province of Harbin today, the three nations appeared to be in sync with each other on the issue of Myanmar, as all three sides opposed imposing sanctions on that country.

By Naveen Kapoor

Harbin, Oct 24 : As the India-Russia-China troika meet concluded in China's northeastern province of Harbin today, the three nations appeared to be in sync with each other on the issue of Myanmar, as all three sides opposed imposing sanctions on that country.

Addressing a joint press conference after a long parley, the leaders form all the three nations came out in favour of reconciliation and political dialogues with the military Junta of Myanmar.

"We believe Myanmar authorities should be encouraged to engage in the process of dialogue and special envoy of United Nations Secretary General the initiatives which he has taken should be encouraged to be taken to the logical conclusion and there should not be any sanctions at this stage," said Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

China, the most ardent supporter of Military Junta in Myanmar, said that things have calmed down in the troubled country. It also exhorted the international community to adopt a more reconciliatory approach rather than confrontation on the turmoil in Myanmar.

"Ultimately, the issue of Myanmar should be resolved by the people and the Government of Myanmar," Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi said

Appreciating efforts made by the UN and the ASEAN countries in Myanmar, the Chinese minister expressed the hope that relevant countries would contribute with the constructive assistance to that country instead of imposing sanctions and creating pressure on it.

Russia, which has made subtle statements on the quagmire in Myanmar so far, also said that sanctions would only aggravate the problems in the region.

Besides Myanmar, the worsening security scenario and rise of Taliban in Afghanistan also figured in the discussion at the troika meeting. All the participants expressed concern and agreed that more steps were required to put a lid on terrorism in Afghanistan.

Mukherjee told reporters that peace process of Afghanistan should be expedited, all stakeholders should be engaged and under no circumstances the Taliban should be allowed to take control over the area. Russian Foreign Minister insisted that there was an urgent need to control terror activities in Kabul and Islamabad in Pakistan.

The troika leaders also found a common ground in fighting drug trafficking, money laundering and smuggling. The group also decided to create a mechanism among the foreign ministries of the member states to expedite the cooperation and coordination among them in the fields of agriculture, development and trade.

The three countries also stressed on the need for restructuring the UN and accepting Kyoto protocol as the final framework on the UN on the issue of climate change. We believe that our trilateral dialogue mechanism improves mutual understanding and trust with regard to these common challenges and contributes to strengthening peace, security and stability in our region and the world. The Joint Communique outlines our shared views on specific issues. We have agreed to take our trilateral cooperation forward through various initiatives," Mukherjee said.

India will host a trilateral business forum on December 15 in New Delhi, which will focus on sectors of common business interest.

The three countries also agreed to hold a trilateral seminar on emerging geo-strategic trends with the participation of officials and scholars from the three countries in India in early 2008.

ANI