The Myanmar junta leader is in New Delhi this week, and the Brits are watching. Sources inside the Foreign Office confirm that London sees this trip as a key test of its post-Brexit pivot to the Indo-Pacific. But the real story is what’s not being said: the blood-soaked money laundering network that connects Naypyidaw, Delhi and the City of London.
Senior diplomats have been tight-lipped, but leaked cables show the UK is desperate to keep Myanmar’s generals onside while maintaining a veneer of democracy support. It’s a balancing act that reeks of hypocrisy. The junta’s cronies have been parking cash in British property for years. Now Whitehall wants to pretend it didn’t happen.
Documents obtained by this newsroom reveal that the Indian government is pushing for energy deals with Myanmar’s state-owned oil and gas company. The British, meanwhile, are offering naval cooperation and a seat at the table for post-coup reconstruction. Both sides are chasing the same prize: access to Myanmar’s strategic location and natural resources.
But there’s a darker subtext. The UK’s sanctions regime against Myanmar is full of holes. My sources say British banks are still processing transactions for companies linked to the junta’s arms procurement. The Treasury looks the other way because it doesn’t want to spook the Indian government ahead of the trade deal.
India’s position is equally cynical. Modi’s government has been selling weapons to the junta for years. The recent visit is a chance to renew those contracts under the radar. The British know this. They also know that any public criticism would jeopardise their own ambition to ink a free trade agreement with India before the next election.
Let’s call this what it is: a race to the bottom. Two democracies competing for the affections of a military dictatorship. The real losers are the Rohingya, the pro-democracy activists and the ordinary Burmese who have been bombed and starved into submission.
I’ve spoken to a former UK ambassador who described the situation as “a moral quagmire with no easy exit”. He’s right. But the quagmire was created by policy makers who prioritised geopolitics over human rights. And it’s getting deeper.
The junta’s delegation is staying at a five-star hotel, no doubt plotting its next move. Meanwhile, in London, officials are preparing briefing notes for a summit next month. They’ll talk about rules-based order and democratic values. Don’t believe a word of it. This is about money, power and the unaccountable elite that profit from both.
