Will lead my party's govt in Myanmar, even if not as President: Suu Kyi

Myanmarese democracy crusader hopes for better relations with India

In her first interview after weeks of silence, Myanmarese opposition leader and chief of the country’s National League of Democracy (NLD) party, Aung San Suu Kyi, expressed strong belief in cordial Myanmar-India relations. She also said she would play a major role in any government NLD forms in Myanmar after the November 8 elections there.

In an interview to India Today TV, Suu Kyi said: “If NLD wins elections and we form a government, I am going to be the leader of that government, whether or not I am the President.” She, however, refused to comment on exactly what kind of role she would play.

On the relations an NLD government might have with India, Suu Kyi said she had a “special affection for India” and was keen on putting behind India’s past treatment of her. “It’s an improvement on what it was three-four years ago when India was over-cautious with regard to support for democracy in Myanmar,” she said on India’s current relations with Myanmar.

On the current government in India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she said: “I got the impression he would like to help the progress of democracy in Myanmar. He has tremendous goodwill towards the country and to us as a movement for democracy.”