India's response to the Rohingya crisis is driven by an 'un-fine' balance

Realist response has taken an upper-hand over a humanitarian response

Myanmar is witnessing a military crackdown against the Rohingya ethnic community. Facing extreme violence, hundreds of thousands of Rohingyas have fled from their homes in Myanmar. It is estimated that more than 300,000 have entered Bangladesh. Even as Bangladesh has been stretched in providing relief to these refugees, the Bangladesh government and activists in India have been pushing the Indian government to admit refugees in India. The Indian government for its part has sent relief assistance to Bangladesh for these refugees but has not agreed to accept more Rohingya refugees in India. What is driving the Indian response to this crisis? What are the factors that make this a complex decision? The author analyses in this Business Standard Special.

‘India remains deeply concerned about the situation in Rakhine State in Myanmar and the outflow of refugees from that region’, began a recent statement by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India. The rest of this short 166-word note focused on strongly condemning the ‘terrorist attacks on Myanmar security forces’, reminded us of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent aid commitment to the strife torn region, and urged the powers that be in Myanmar to handle the situation with ‘maturity’, focus on the welfare of both civilians and security forces, and restore normalcy ‘expeditiously’. Soon after, New Delhi launched Operation Insaniyat offering aid to Rohingya refugees pouring into Bangladesh. Both the statement and the aid make for fitting examples of how India balances competing domestic and foreign policy advocacies and priorities....READ MORE