India expresses concern over coup in Myanmar; monitoring situation closely

India on Monday expressed concern over the military coup in Myanmar and detention of its top political leaders, and said the rule of law and the democratic process must be upheld in the country. In its reaction to the fast-paced developments in Myanmar, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said India is monitoring the situation closely and that it had been steadfast in supporting the democratic transition in that country. According to reports from Myanmar, the country’s powerful military grabbed power in a coup against the civilian government and imposed a state of emergency after detaining Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD) in the early hours of Monday. “We have noted the developments in Myanmar with deep concern. India has always been steadfast in its support to the process of democratic transition in Myanmar,” the MEA said. “We believe that the rule of law and the democratic process must be upheld. We are monitoring the situation closely,” it said in a statement. The Myanmarese military staged the coup amid its rising friction with the ruling NLD government over the results of the November 8 general election. The NLD had registered a thumping victory in the polls. However, the military had alleged discrepancies in the electoral process. According to media reports, an announcer on Myanmar’s military-owned Myawaddy TV declared on Monday morning that the military had taken control of the country for one year. Myanmar’s leader Suu Kyi and other senior figures from the ruling party had been detained in an early morning raid, the spokesman for the governing NLD was quoted as saying in the media. The democratic transition in Myanmar had taken place in 2011 after decades of military rule.