The Indian air force and public sector undertakings (PSUs) are continuing to provide military equipment, infrastructure and training to the illegal Myanmar junta, aiding and abetting its ongoing war crimes and crimes against humanity.

PSUs are state-owned enterprises that are majority owned by the Indian government. PSUs operate in sectors throughout the Indian economy including defence, in which there are 16 PSUs administered by India’s Ministry of Defence.  

India is the third biggest supplier of arms and equipment to Myanmar after Russia and China, supporting a campaign of terror the junta is waging across the country as the people overwhelmingly reject the military’s illegal February 2021 coup attempt.

An analysis of Indian trade data, corporate disclosures, parliamentary reports and other open-source information casts new light on the Myanmar military’s business with India and exposes the significant role of PSUs and the Indian Air Force.

Justice For Myanmar calls on India to immediately ban the transfer of all arms and associated equipment, technology and fuel to the Myanmar military and to cease all military training.  

Governments and companies that have business relationships with the Indian military and defence industry should use their leverage to urge a ban on all support for the Myanmar junta.

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Indian support for the junta’s air force

Since the military’s illegal coup attempt, the junta has increasingly relied on its air force to wage  its campaign of terror against the people of Myanmar as it loses control of territory to ethnic resistance organisations and people’s defence forces.

The junta’s use of airstrikes are growing more frequent. An independent assessment of the junta’s use of airstrikes found that in just the last four months of 2023, the military carried out more than 750 airstrikes, with an average of six airstrikes taking place every day. Airstrikes are indiscriminate, killing civilians including children and destroying whole communities.

For instance, on March 18, 2024, junta airstrikes in Minbya Township in Arakan State killed 22 Rohingya. More recently, airstrikes destroyed schools, religious buildings and houses in Karen State. In February 2024, junta airstrikes destroyed a hospital and most of the homes in Ramree town, Arakan State. On January 7, 2024, the junta attacked a village in Sagaing Region, near the border of India, killing 17 civilians including at least nine children.

Indian Air Force

On January 2, 2024, the Indian Air Force’s 31 Movement Control Unit (MCU) shipped 52 items, all labelled as “defense goods”, to the Myanmar Air Force’s maintenance department at the Mingaladon air force base in Yangon. The shipment was addressed to Major Thant Zin Aung, the commanding officer of the base’s maintenance depot.

The 31 MCU is part of the Indian Air Force’s Maintenance Command and is based at the Palam Air Force Station in New Delhi. Movement Control Units play a key logistics and supply chain role in the Indian Air Force, handling the import and export of cargo on behalf of the air force.

Among other things, the shipped goods include sensors, thermometers, measuring and navigation tools and training materials. An analysis of the shipped goods suggests that they are intended for one or several automatic weather stations (AWS). An AWS is an automated version of the traditional weather station, used to save human labour and to enable measurements from remote and inaccessible areas. In December 2023, 15 staff of the Indian Air Force were deployed to Myanmar for the installation of meteorological instruments, likely in connection with the air force’s shipment to Myanmar in early 2024.

While AWS have broad applicability in the civilian sector, the fact that the items are labelled as “defense goods” and that both the shipper and consignee are military leaves no doubt as to the end-use of the equipment.

Military weather stations support the operation of military aircraft and combat systems by supplying critical information such as temperature, humidity, wind direction, wind speed, pressure and rainfall. This enhances the military’s knowledge of the current and forecast environment, which can increase the “effectiveness” of military operations and the accuracy of airstrikes. Among other uses, data obtained through AWS can be decisive for the timing of airstrikes, the aircraft used and the choice of weapons.

The 2024 shipment follows a prior shipment of 72 items of a similar nature by 31 MCU to the Office of the Commander in Chief of the Myanmar military on July 22, 2019.

India has supplied this equipment and provided direct technical support that will enhance the Myanmar military’s tactical abilities and precision with full knowledge of the Myanmar Air Force’s use of airstrikes against civilian targets across Myanmar.

Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL)

‍Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is a PSU under India’s Ministry of Defence. Headquartered in Bangalore, HAL is involved in designing and manufacturing fighter jets, helicopters, jet engines and avionics.

HAL lists Myanmar as an active client, noting that its Aircraft Overhaul Division is “currently involved” in the export of MiG spare parts to Myanmar, Vietnam, Malaysia, Peru, and Romania. Justice For Myanmar was unable to confirm the date HAL last supplied MiG parts and HAL did not respond to questions. The Myanmar Air Force has as many as 37 MiG-29fighter jets which it uses to carry out indiscriminate airstrikes.

In August 2019, the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar identified HAL as having transferred several second-hand HAL HJT-16 Kiran trainer aircraft to the Myanmar military in 2018, citing the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. In March 2021, a company spokesperson stated, “HAL has had no business dealings with Myanmar Defence Forces from 2017-2019. In fact, HAL did not have any business dealing even after 2019 with Myanmar till date.”

HAL also operates a joint venture – Indo-Russian Aviation Limited (IRAL) – originally established in 1994 to provide product support and spare parts for Russian/Soviet Union-origin aircraft including MiG military aircraft. IRAL is based in Nasik, the same location as HAL’s Aircraft Overhaul Division.

IRAL’s shareholders include ICICI Bank Limited, JSC RAC MiG, GRPZ Ryazan & Aviazapchast PLC. Justice For Myanmar has previously exposed MiG and Aviazpchast for having supplied aircraft parts to the Myanmar military after February 2021. MiG is part of Rostec, Russia’s biggest defence conglomerate that operates a representative office in Myanmar. Rostec has been sanctioned by India’s Western allies.

In March 2023, the US Department of Commerce added Aviazpchast to its Export Administration Regulations Entity List for supplying the Myanmar military junta with equipment that enables its airstrikes. Aviazpchast posted a response on its website claiming that it only supplies dual use goods and that its last supply of equipment to Myanmar was in September 2021. Aviazapchast continues to list Myanmar as one of its eight closest partners.

HAL is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India and is 71% state-owned. Other shareholders include HDFC Asset Management, Life Insurance Corporation of India, Nippon Life India Asset Management, Invesco Asset Management and Franklin Templeton Asset Management.

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Indian support for the junta’s navy

Over the past decade, the Myanmar military has invested significantly in revamping its navy with the commissioning of new warships, the development of its shipbuilding capabilities and the acquisition of two submarines, including one from India. The Myanmar Navy is involved in the direct commission of international crimes, as seen in the 2017 genocide against the Rohingya and more recent indiscriminate attacks from naval vessels in Arakan State. In September 2023, Myanmar independent media reported that junta warships were shelling coastal villages in Palaw Township, Tanintharyi Region located on the Andaman coast. The navy also aids the army’s atrocities by transporting troops and artillery.

Increased loss of control over road networks have forced the Myanmar military to rely on maritime routes to move reinforcements, supplies, and weapons, with the role of the navy likely to be increasingly important for the junta as it wages its campaign of terror.

Goa Shipyard Limited

Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) is a PSU under India’s Ministry of Defence. It has worked with the junta to help develop its domestic shipbuilding capabilities under a contract signed following the military’s coup attempt. GSL is 51% owned by the President of India and 47% owned by the PSU Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited. Among GSL’s principal objectives, the company lists designing and building warships for the Indian armed forces and for export to “friendly foreign nations”.

The company’s annual report for 2021-2022 lists the Myanmar Navy as an active partner, noting that its efforts to expand presence in the international market has “translated into conclusion of export contracts for… supervision for commissioning of Propulsion Plant of 81m offshore patrol vessels (OPV) for Myanmar Navy [sic].”

The Myanmar Navy has two 81m OPVs that were built in the naval shipyard in Thanlyin. UMS Inlay was commissioned in 2017 and UMS Inma was commissioned in December 2021. The vessels operate with a propulsion system using two diesel engines to power a single propeller shaft. They are armed with naval guns and contain a helipad.

The GSL contract for the propulsion plant was signed with the Myanmar Naval Dockyard on 26 October 2021. The status of the project is unclear, and the project was not referred to in GSL’s 2022-3 annual report. According to a December 2021 Indian Ministry of Defence report to the Lok Sabha’s Standing Committee on Defence, GSL’s export turnover for 2021-3 included training for the Myanmar Navy, which may refer to training for the propulsion plant. In the same report, the Ministry of Defence disclosed that GSL has submitted proposals to countries including Myanmar “for the design and construction of different vessels/platforms” for the 2023-4 to 2024-5 financial years.

Since February 2021, GSL has also met with senior members of the Myanmar military. In November 2021, a Myanmar military delegation led by navy chief Admiral Moe Aung attended the third Goa Maritime Conclave hosted by the Indian Navy and visited GSL. This followed an official visit to GSL by former navy chief Tin Aung San in October 2017 and a visit of a Myanmar military delegation led by Min Aung Hlaing in July 2015.

In 2019, GSL published an expression of interest for a company to market its products in Myanmar for both military and civil use. It is unclear if GSL appointed a representative in Myanmar and it did not respond to questions from JFM about the result of the tender.

In 2016, GSL built and installed a damage control simulator (DCS) in Myanmar for the navy in partnership with the private company Electropneumatics and Hydraulics India (EPHL). EPHL is currently a registered supplier with the Myanmar military’s Directorate of Procurement.

The DCS is a training system designed to simulate a realistic controlled environment for crew training in ship damage control and repair in various damage scenarios. The company notes that in real life operational service, the “possibility of ship damage in both war and peace times is likely”. The DCS appears to have been supplied with financing support from India’s EXIM Bank, according to GSL’s 2018 annual report.

‍Indian Oil Corporation Limited

India Oil Corporation Limited (IOCL) is a PSU under India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. Reporting by Frontier Myanmar in January 2024 confirmed that since February 2021, IOCL has shipped over US$3.7 million in fuel to Myanmar, including US$1.5 million in navy grade diesel. In the first 18 months of the military’s attempted coup, many of the shipments were of engine oil, motor spirits, lubricants and brake fluids manufactured by Servo, an IOCL oil and lubricant brand, according to Frontier’s analysis.

The majority of the Servo exports were shipped to Myanmar Chemical & Machinery (MCM), a known arms broker for the Myanmar military. MCM and its chairperson, Aung Hlaing Oo, are sanctioned by the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Recent shipment data obtained by Justice For Myanmar confirms that since Frontier Myanmar’s reporting on January 15, 2024, this trade by IOCL to Myanmar has continued, with at least three additional shipments in late January 2024, and an additional five shipments in February 2024.

Frontier also found that IOCL sent nearly US$140 million in jet fuel to Puma Energy Supply and Trading in Singapore and its parent company Trafigura from 2017-2020. Before its exit in 2022, Puma was Myanmar military’s main source of jet fuel.

IOCL is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India and is 51.5% state-owned. Other shareholders include Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited, Life Insurance Corporation of India, Oil India Limited, SBI Funds Management Limited, Nippon Life Asset Management and Franklin Templeton Asset Management.

Bharat Electronics Limited

Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) is a PSU under India’s Ministry of Defence. Based in Bangaluru, BEL manufactures a wide range of military technology including radars, missile systems, naval systems, combat management systems, command and control systems, electronic warfare systems, signals intelligence systems, electro-optics, tank electronics and military communications. BEL continues to operate a branch office in Myanmar.

On January 30, 2024, BEL shipped several military-end use items to the Myanmar military’s Directorate of Procurement, including a pan and tilt camera and a low noise front end for marine radar receivers.

The pan and tilt camera is most likely intended for use with a coastal surveillance system in Myanmar. In 2021, BEL shipped a series of towers and radar components for a coastal surveillance system that BEL had designed for the Myanmar military, which was previously exposed by Justice For Myanmar. The company listed it as one of its “major orders” in its 2020 annual report.

BEL’s 2015 annual report confirms an “EO system for Integrated Coastal Surveillance System; EO System is developed with indigenous TI and CCD mounted on Pan and Tilt for effective surveillance in azimuth and elevation for Coastal Surveillance System”.

The January 2024 shipment from BEL also contains a B7RX1002, a low noise front end for S-band marine radar receiver. As the shipment record confirms, this component is manufactured by Teledyne E2V, a British-registered company that produces systems and components for defence and other sectors.

Both shipment records from 2024 indicate that the items are being returned to Myanmar after having been repaired in India, demonstrating BEL’s ongoing assistance to the Myanmar military.

Justice For Myanmar previously documented BEL’s shipments to the Myanmar military following the coup attempt, which have included a remote-controlled weapon station in 2021 and US$5.1 million worth of items from November 2022 to April 2023 consisting of metallic sonar domes; transducers and gaskets for the domes to be used on frigates, warships or submarines; directing gear systems; technical documents; sliprings and external fasteners; various items for item radio transmission or radar equipment, including base plates and power supplies; and manpack radios for communication while in the battlefield.  

BEL is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India and is 51% state-owned. Other shareholders include Nippon Life Asset Management, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management, HDFC Asset Management, Canara Robeco Asset Management and Franklin Templeton Asset Management.

In January 2023, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund excluded BEL because of its supply of material to the Myanmar military.

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India’s recent support for the junta is part of broader pattern of complicity

In July 2019, following the military’s genocide against the Rohingya, India and Myanmar signed a Memorandum of Understanding to increase defence co-operation. According to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, India was the third largest supplier of weapons to Myanmar for the years 2017-2022. A September 2023 report by the Vivekananda International Foundation, an Indian think tank, confirms that over 50 percent of India’s total arms exports went to Myanmar. The report goes on to list transfers of arms and related material to Myanmar, which include artillery guns, bullet proof jackets and helmets, military ships and a refurbished Russian-origin kilo-class submarine.

Justice For Myanmar has identified additional Indian defence PSUs that have supplied arms and equipment to the Myanmar military before its coup attempt, or that have signalled their intent for future business with the Myanmar military.

BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited

BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited (BrahMos Aerospace) is a joint venture of the Indian Ministry of Defence’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia’s Joint Stock Company “Military Industrial Consortium” “NPO Mashinostroyenia”. BrahMos Aerospace has been in talks with the Myanmar military for the supply of missiles.

BrahMos Aerospace was set up for the design and production of supersonic cruise missiles. The company has developed ship based, land based and air-based cruise missiles that have been inducted into the arsenals of the Indian navy, army and air force. The BrahMos missile has a flight range of 290 kilometres with supersonic speed all throughout the flight, and operates according to a “fire and forget” principle whereby the missile can guide itself to the target once fired.

The air launched version of the BrahMos missile has been integrated into the Su-30MKI, a Russian developed fighter jet with a variant in the Myanmar Air Force’s fleet.

In an August 2022 interview with the Russian state media agency TASS, BrahMos Aerospace CEO Atul Rane disclosed that the Myanmar junta had signalled the intention to procure BrahMos missiles. Rane explained that for the sale to proceed, BrahMos would need to arrange financing through an Indian credit line.

Myanmar military delegations have been briefed by Brahmos Aerospace representatives on at least two occasions. In 2018, a Myanmar delegation was reportedly briefed about the cruise missile at the Indian arms fair DefExpo. In 2016, a delegation led by Major General Tun Tun Naung, Commander of the Myanmar Army’s No. 1 Bureau of Special Operations visited BrahMos Aerospace Complex in India.

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Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Limited

Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited (GRSE), a PSU under India’s Ministry of Defence, has supplied the Myanmar military before its coup attempt and appears to have continued to pursue business after its coup attempt. GRSE is one of India's leading shipyards, located in Kolkata.

GRSE disclosed an export order in the 2016-17 financial year to supply bailey type steel bridges for the Myanmar Army. In the company’s 2018-19 annual report GRSE disclosed that it was “aggressively marketing its Portable Steel Bridges with neighbouring countries like Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal.”

In GRSE’s 2021-2022 annual report, it disclosed that it has taken initiatives to export naval ships to “friendly foreign countries” including Myanmar.

According to a December 2021 Indian Ministry of Defence report to the Lok Sabha’s Standing Committee on Defence, GRSE has also appointed a marketing representative for Myanmar and taken up “aggressive marketing initiatives”.

The company has publicised visits from the Myanmar military’s National Defence College in 2018 and 2019. Details of the visits are not publicly available but suggest possible GRSE cooperation in military training.

GRSE is listed on the National Stock Exchange of India and is 75% state-owned. Other shareholders include HDFC Asset Management, SBI Funds Management, Sanlam Investment Management, Dimensional Fund Advisors and DFA Australia.

BEML Limited

BEML is a PSU under India’s Ministry of Defence that has supplied the Myanmar military. Formerly known as Bharat Earth Movers Limited, BEML manufactures a variety of heavy equipment, such as that used for railways and mining. In the defence sector, BEML supplies ground support vehicles for India’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Project. Through its Aerospace division, the company also manufactures ground port equipment for weapons, including aircraft weapon loading trolleys and multi-purpose weapon loaders.

In August 2022, a junta delegation led by its deputy minister for transport and communications visited BEML’s rail manufacturing facility. The junta illegally controls Myanma Railways, a state-owned enterprise, and has used trains for the transport of troops, arms and other supplies.

In a January 2021 memorandum, the company confirmed it had exported equipment, spare parts and services to countries including Myanmar, without specifying what they were.

In 2019, BEML Limited publicly revealed a focus on the export of “defence equipment” to neighbouring countries including Myanmar, where it seeks to increase its export turnover and meet  demands. In the same document, BEML disclosed that it was “augmenting the distributor network” in Myanmar and it has appointed a distributor in the country. The company did not disclose the identify of its distributor to Justice For Myanmar.

BEML is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India and is 54% state-owned. Other shareholders include HDFC Asset Management, Nippon Life India Asset Management, Kotak Mahindra Asset Management, Carne Global Fund Managers (Ireland) and White Oak Capital Partners.  

Hindustan Shipyards Limited

In 2018, defence PSU Hindustan Shipyards Limited (HSL) announced that it was pursuing export orders “with neighbouring countries”, including Myanmar. Located in Visakhapatnam, India, the company builds offshore patrol vessels and survey ships and also overhauls submarines. An announcement by HSL’s chairperson in 2022 congratulated the company for engaging with defence attaches/embassies including in Myanmar for export leads.

In 2020, India supplied the Myanmar Navy with a Russian-built Kilo-class diesel-electric submarine that was in service with the Indian Navy as INS Sindhuvir. The transfer was also reported to include operational and maintenance training to the Myanmar Navy. Prior to being transferred to Myanmar, the submarine was refitted at HSL.

In July 2019, HSL received Min Aung Hlaing on official business.

Yantra India Limited

As has previously been exposed by Justice For Myanmar, Indian export records confirm that the Indian defence PSU Yantra India Ltd shipped multiple 122mm barrels to the Myanmar military on October 27, 2022, almost two years after its illegal attempted coup.

The 122mm barrels are most likely to be used for howitzers that are produced in Myanmar by the Office of the Chief of Defence Industries (OCDI), also known as the Directorate of Defence Industries, a unit of the military that is sanctioned by the US, UK, EU and Canada. Sources with first-hand experience of the country’s weapon manufacturing industry have noted that the OCDI is reliant on purchases of large calibre gun barrels from elsewhere due to a lack of appropriate technology and poor quality of domestically sourced raw materials.

Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited

Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited (MDL) is an Indian defence PSU based in Mumbai that builds warships and submarines, as well as civilian vessels. According to a December 2021 Indian Ministry of Defence report to the Lok Sabha’s Standing Committee on Defence, MDL had signed an agency agreement for exports to Myanmar.  

Since the military’s coup attempt, MDL has published tenders to buy Myanmar teak, including in September 2023, long after the junta controlled Myanma Timber Enterprise (MTE) was sanctioned by India’s Western allies. MTE controls the trade in Myanmar teak, ensuring profits flow to the junta and help finance its atrocities.

MDL is listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India and is 85% state-owned. Other shareholders include Edelweiss Asset Management, Aditya Biria Sun Life Amc, Tata AIA Life Insurance, Capital Investment Trust, ITI Asset Management and Russel Investments.  

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India’s engagement and training of the murderous Myanmar military

Beyond arms transfers, the Indian government is also actively inviting members of the Myanmar junta to attend defence events and providing training. A recent communiqué of the Indian Ministry of Defence confirms that on 30 November 2023, more than 1000 cadets, including 21 from “friendly foreign countries”, participated in a graduation ceremony of Indian cadets, overseen by India’s president. According to the statement, cadets from Myanmar were at the event.

In October 2023, the chief of the Myanmar Navy again participated in the Goa Maritime Conclave (GMC) hosted by the Indian Navy under the aegis of the Naval War College, Goa. As part of India’s Aatma Nirbharta initiative, a “Make in India Exhibition” was organised on the side-lines of the conclave to showcase India's domestic shipbuilding industry.

In June 2023, Indian Defence Secretary Shri Giridhar Aramane paid an official visit to Myanmar, meeting with coup leader and war criminal Min Aung Hlaing in Naypyidaw. The Defence Secretary also met with the junta’s Western sanctioned defence minister Mya Tun Oo and held meetings with the Myanmar Navy head Moe Aung and defence industry chief Lt Gen Khan Myint Than, signalling deepening cooperation and complicity with the junta.

This military cooperation continues a pattern of support India provided during and in the years after the military’s “clearance operations” against the Rohingya. Examples include:

• In 2020, a tabletop exercise between the Indian and Myanmar air forces took place in Prayagraj, India.
• In 2018, according to the Indian Defence Ministry’s own account, a mobile training team comprising seven officers and two sailors was deployed to Myanmar for three months to train 60 Myanmar soldiers on shipyard management, logistics and engineering.
• India hosted bilateral India Myanmar Bilateral Army Exercises (IMBAX) in 2017 and 2019.
• INS Satavahana carried out ab-initio submarine training for Myanmar navy personnel.
• In 2017, as part of defence cooperation, India hosted a four-week tailor made training capsule in Low Intensity Counter Offensive for 35 Myanmar military personnel at the Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare (CIJW) School in Vairengte.

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India acting in blatant disregard of its international human rights obligations

India has acted with full knowledge that its transfers of military equipment and provision of training and support to the Myanmar military takes place in a context in which the military is committing repeated grave violations of international human rights and humanitarian law. By providing arms, equipment and technology to the Myanmar military, India is directly supporting the junta’s brutal attacks against the people, aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity.

India’s domestic laws are currently inadequate to prevent state complicity in Myanmar atrocities. Indian exports are regulated by the Foreign Trade (Development and Regulation) Act of 1992 and related rules, regulations and notifications. The legislation allows the Indian government to implement a Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) which sets the conditions for the export of restricted goods. The most recent FTP was issued in 2023. While India has issued prohibitions on exports to Iraq, Somalia, Iran, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Venezuela, it has failed to act when it comes to Myanmar.

Arms and munitions exported by various Indian defence PSUs are covered by the Special Chemicals, Organisms, Materials, Equipment and Technologies (SCOMET) list that specifies the items that require export permits. The present regulation does not include any mention of human rights violations in the destination country as a factor for deciding export permit authorisation.

Justice For Myanmar calls on India to immediately impose an arms embargo on the Myanmar military junta and cease all training and other military support, in recognition of the impact of its weapons exports on the Myanmar population. We also call on Indian arms companies – private and public sector – to immediately stop doing business with the Myanmar military – directly or through front companies in Myanmar – and halt any agreed consignments of additional arms and related material to the junta.

Governments and companies that are engaged with the Indian government and its arms industry should urgently do due diligence to prevent arms, equipment and technology from being diverted to the junta and use their leverage to ensure India ends its complicitly in the Myanmar junta’s atrocities.  

The fact that a large majority of the identified Indian companies supplying arms and equipment to the junta are public sector undertakings further demonstrates the Indian government’s complicitly in the Myanmar military’s atrocity crimes.

The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights – the authoritative global reference for preventing and addressing adverse human rights impacts arising from business-related activity – provide that States should take “additional” steps to protect against human rights abuses by business enterprises that are owned or controlled by the State. The Guiding Principles further note that human rights abuse by a State-owned enterprise may also constitute a violation of the State’s own international law obligations when the acts of the enterprise can be attributed to the State. As has been formally clarified by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Guiding Principles apply to all types of modalities of investment, including where institutions act as shareholders. These expectations are also reflected in the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct. Taken together, these standards require investors of the Indian companies supplying the junta to engage with these companies to take appropriate harm mitigation measures. This may include suspension of exports, withdrawal of investment pending corrective action, or responsible disengagement or divestment. Government investors have an additional layer of responsibility in their vigilance under the OECD Guidelines, given that their human rights treaty obligations extend to their business conduct and to the populations that their business conduct affects.

In our view, given the illegal coup attempt and urgent human rights situation, there is no way to mitigate the business and human rights impact of weapons and related material exports to the military junta without a total stop to those exports. We call upon investors and shareholders of the identified companies to conduct updated and enhanced human rights due diligence to assess the impact of their investment and shareholding on the people of Myanmar and take mitigating action.

The Myanmar military junta has been terrorising the people of Myanmar for more than three years, with the support of India and other government providing it with funds, arms, equipment and jet fuel. International action is needed urgently to cut resources to the junta and to support the Myanmar people’s struggle for federal democracy.