Concerned about the situation in Myanmar, India and Japan demanded an immediate end of violence throughout the country and a return to the road of democracy.
Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi repeated their position on Myanmar in a joint press statement on Saturday, calling for the release of all political detainees.
Both Prime Ministers emphasised their support for the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) attempts to resolve the country’s current political impasse between civilian representatives and the military junta.
Last year, ASEAN struck a five-point accord that emphasised diplomacy, humanitarian aid, and an end to violence.
Following a coup on February 1, last year, the Myanmar military junta assumed control of the country.
Myanmar’s regime has conducted a ruthless statewide campaign on anyone who opposes military authority. Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated in a statement on Friday that the junta’s systematic and widespread violations, including mass executions, torture, arbitrary arrests, and indiscriminate strikes on civilians, constitute crimes against humanity and war crimes.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, security forces have killed at least 1,600 individuals and jailed over 12,000 since the coup.
Since the coup, over 500,000 people have been internally displaced, while tens of thousands have left as refugees to Thailand and India, according to the HRW research, which used statistics from the United Nations refugee agency, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).