Around 40,000 Rohingya Muslims have fled to India over the past decade, out of which 16,500 are registered with the UN`s refugee agency. Bangladesh, meanwhile, has received over 400,000 new arrivals since Myanmar`s military began intensifying attacks on Rohingya villages last month.
As the violence in Rakhine escalates, New Delhi — which is not a party to two major international refugee laws — now wants to deport its population of Rohingya escapees back to Myanmar on what it says are national security concerns.
This week, Modi`s administration said it had evidence of terror links between some India-based Rohingya and extremist groups such as Islamic State. Met with condemnation abroad and embraced by right-wing nationalists at home, the deportation plan is currently being debated in India`s Supreme Court.
"There is urgent need for deft diplomacy by India," Ashok Sajjanhar, India`s former ambassador to Kazakhstan, said in a Tuesday report published by the Vivekananda International Foundation, a non-partisan think tank.
The world`s biggest democracy has to "simultaneously contend with challenges in its relations with its two extremely significant and sensitive neighbors, Bangladesh and Myanmar, as well as with international human rights watchdogs," he continued.
It`s a tricky dilemma for New Delhi, which is looking to compete with China as a leading Asian power.
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