New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (August 31) met Senior General Min Aung Hlaing of Myanmar, on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Summit in Tianjin and expressed hope that the upcoming elections in the country would be held in a “fair and inclusive” manner.Hlaing is the chairman of the State Administration Council of Myanmar – the military junta which is in power in the country. Modi had last met Hlaing in April on the sidelines of the BIMSTEC Summit in Bangkok.According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Modi “expressed the hope that the forthcoming elections in Myanmar will be held in a fair and inclusive manner involving all stakeholders.”“He underlined that India supports a Myanmar-led and Myanmar-owned peace process, for which peaceful dialogue and consultation is the only way forward,” an MEA statement said.The MEA said that Modi had reiterated India’s readiness to support the developmental needs of Myanmar and noted that India attaches importance to ties with the country as a part of its Neighbourhood First, Act East and Indo-Pacific policies. “The two leaders reviewed bilateral ties and discussed the way forward on several aspects of bilateral cooperation, including development partnership, defence and security, border management and border trade issues,” the MEA said. “Prime Minister stressed that progress on ongoing connectivity projects would foster greater interaction between the people of the two countries, while promoting regional cooperation and integration as envisioned in India’s Act East policy.”The Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri told reporters that Modi had “welcomed the announcement of elections in Myanmar and stated that dialogue was the only way forward to foster peace and stability in Myanmar”.According to the state-run The Global New Light of Myanmar, India had also agreed to send electoral observation teams and also agreed to back Myanmar’s application for entry into SCO. There was no such mention by Misri or MEA press release.However, Rights groups have strongly criticised India’s outreach. Justice For Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung said Modi’s meeting with Min Aung Hlaing was “deepening India’s complicity in the junta’s international crimes and helping prop up a criminal junta.” She added that the so-called “bilateral cooperation” was not about peace or development but about “arming and supporting a junta that bombs schools and massacres children.”The activist group further warned that India’s decision to send election observers would risk legitimising what it called a “sham electoral process” and lend “dangerous credibility to the junta’s attempt to steal power from the people of Myanmar.” It described the junta as “an illegitimate body” with “no legal basis to join SCO,” and said that any support for its membership would embolden further “war crimes and crimes against humanity.”In the meeting in April too Modi had underlined the importance of early restoration of the democratic process in the country, including through credible and inclusive elections. The MEA had then said that Modi added that India supported efforts aimed at fostering trust and advancing a Myanmar-owned and Myanmar-led transition towards a peaceful, stable and democratic future.Modi’s signalling that the elections be held with the inclusion of all parties in the exercise comes as the planned election is facing criticism for its credibility.Earlier this month, the military junta announced that polls will be held in a phased manner starting December 28. While Hlaing has threatened severe punishment for anyone who criticises or obstructs the election, Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy will not be allowed to contest the elections.It was Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government that the military junta had overthrown in February 2021 in a coup. Suu Kyi’s NLD had won the two elections prior to the coup.The MEA readout also stated that Modi had reiterated India’s readiness to support the developmental needs of Myanmar and noted that India attaches importance to ties with the country as a part of its Neighbourhood First, Act East and Indo-Pacific policies.“The two leaders reviewed bilateral ties and discussed the way forward on several aspects of bilateral cooperation, including development partnership, defence and security, border management and border trade issues,” the MEA said.“Prime Minister stressed that progress on ongoing connectivity projects would foster greater interaction between the people of the two countries, while promoting regional cooperation and integration as envisioned in India’s Act East policy.”The meeting on Sunday came after Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping in his first visit to China in seven years and the first bilateral visit by the leaders to each other’s country since 2018. Modi told Xi that the India-China border had remained peaceful for the past year, while Xi said the global landscape was “chaotic” and called it “the right choice” for the two countries to be friends.Modi’s meeting with the Myanmar military chief assumes importance as New Delhi seeks to counterbalance China’s influence. It had in 2022 defended Myanmar’s participation in the BIMSTEC summit, saying the country’s geographical location can determine the success of the regional grouping.Note: This report has been updated since publication with additional details.