Last
year, senior Burmese officials dismissed the notion that the government
in Naypyidaw is pursuing a nuclear program, peaceful or otherwise.
Science and Technology Minister U Aye Myint became the first senior
official to openly deny the allegations of a nefarious weapons program.
He insisted that, despite considering the option of a civilian nuclear
program, Burma doesn’t have “sufficient resources” to embark on such an
initiative. Myint further asserted that his country had “no plan at all
to own nuclear weapons” and underlined Burma’s commitment to the
Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapons-Free Zone Treaty, which it has signed and
deposited.
Since then, the military junta in Naypyidaw has continued its courtship
of the West with a charm offensive aimed at removing the smothering
sanctions that have targeted the regime for decades. The turning point,
it seems, came in December, when U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
visited the country with caveat-laden hopes ...
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