India supplied $51 million (₹422 crore) worth of arms and related materials to the Myanmar military since the coup in February 2021, according to a United Nations report.

Besides India, Russia, China, Singapore, and Thailand also provided military support to the Myanmar junta, stated UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews. However, India’s assistance was low compared with that of Russia, China, and Singapore, but higher than Thailand.

Critical suppliers

“Russia and China continue to be the main suppliers of advanced weapons systems to the Myanmar military, accounting for over $400 million and $260 million respectively since the coup, with much of the trade originating from state-owned entities. However, arms dealers operating out of Singapore are critical to the continued operation of the Myanmar military’s deadly weapons factories (commonly referred to as KaPaSa),” Andrews said in its report released on Wednesday.

Also read: Myanmar court jails Suu Kyi for 7 more years as secretive trials end

Similarly, the report revealed that $254 million of supplies was shipped from dozens of entities in Singapore to the Myanmar military from February 2021 to December 2022. And, Thailand’s support, as the report documents, was the least at $28 million.

Overall, the Myanmar military imported at least $1 billion in arms and raw materials to manufacture weapons from February 2021. The UN describes Special Rapporteur’s paper, “The Billion Dollar Death Trade: International Arms Networks that Enable Human Rights Violations in Myanmar” as the most detailed study on post-coup arms transfers to the military to date.

Sanctions not enforced properly

UN Special Rapporteur said the Myanmar military and its arms dealers have figured out how to game the system. “That’s because sanctions are not being adequately enforced and because arms dealers linked to the junta have been able to create shell companies to avoid them,” Andrews insists.

Also read: India targets ₹25,000-cr worth defence exports by 2024: Rajnath Singh

The expert said the ad hoc, uncoordinated nature of current sanctions was responsible for payments to be made in other currencies and jurisdictions. “Member States have not adequately targeted key sources of foreign currency that the junta relies on to purchase arms, including most significantly Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise,” Andrews said.

The report lamented that no member state has imposed sanctions on Myanmar Foreign Trade Bank (MFTB), which the junta uses for arms purchase, since the coup.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW