India will dispatch teams to observe Myanmar’s general election in December, Reuters reported, signaling New Delhi’s backing for a vote widely criticized as undemocratic.
Myanmar’s military leader Min Aung Hlaing met Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday during the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in China. According to state media, both discussed border security, trade, and regional stability. India later urged that the elections be “fair and inclusive.”
The polls, scheduled to begin on December 28, will be the first since the military toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in 2021, sparking a nationwide conflict. With opposition parties sidelined and fighting disrupting much of the country, rights groups and Western governments view the planned vote as a move to entrench military rule, according to Reuters.
