New Delhi: That India will host Myanmar’s president and former junta leader Min Aung Hlaing starting Saturday (May 30) is condemnable, the Justice for Myanmar (JFM) group has said, calling on New Delhi to “stop awarding false legitimacy” to the Burmese military.In a statement on Friday, the covert JFM group that works to trace and expose the junta’s sources of funding condemned India’s hosting “war criminal” Min Aung Hlaing who is “waging a campaign of terror against the Myanmar people”.Pointing to JFM’s past documentation of materiel sales by Indian firms, including state-owned ones, to Myanmar after Min Aung Hlaing overthrew the country’s democratically elected government in 2021, spokesperson Yadanar Maung accused New Delhi of complicity in the Burmese military’s war crimes.“Yet, Indian complicity is only deepening. India also provides military training and education support to the illegal junta,” it alleged, adding that “Indian state-owned companies are in business with junta controlled enterprises, including MOGE [Myanma Oil and Gas Enterprise] through the involvement of GAIL and ONGC in the oil and gas sector”.The group called on India to “stop awarding false legitimacy to the junta” and “profiting from the military’s campaign of terror against the people” and “instead support the Myanmar people who are struggling and sacrificing daily for federal democracy”.Myanmar’s National Unity Government in exile also expressed ‘deep concern’ over the president’s visit in a letter to external affairs minister S. Jaishankar, The Hindu reported.Min Aung Hlaing will visit India on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation for five days starting Saturday. Apart from holding talks with the Indian leadership he will also attend a business forum and travel to Bodh Gaya.Asked about the ethics of hosting the Burmese president in light of the Myanmar military’s targeting of civilians and his election taking place under conditions that opponents and independent observers alike have deemed neither free nor fair, the external affairs ministry on Friday avoided directly addressing the issue.“He was to come for the International Big Cat Alliance, which has got postponed,” said ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, repeating the president’s itinerary and noting that “we want to further strengthen our ties in several areas that form part of our bilateral engagement”.“All issues that form part of the gamut of relations between Myanmar and India will come up for discussion,” Jaiswal had also said to a different question.After the general elections – that took place amid Myanmar’s civil war – junior minister for external affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh represented India at Min Aung Hlaing’s inauguration.India has maintained engagement with Myanmar’s military authorities despite calls from ethnic opposition groups to support efforts to press the regime towards a return to democracy, even as the military leadership has grown increasingly dependent on China.Human Rights Watch’s page for Myanmar notes that the country’s military has responded to armed resistance against it by attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure. The junta, it writes, “has driven the country further into a human rights and humanitarian catastrophe”.