Foreign policy independence crucial for Myanmar's NLD

THE foreign policy of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) government of Myanmar is besieged by domestic and foreign pressures, as its military is restricting freedom of decision-making, and China is gaining leverage over the policy.

Helmed by Aung San Suu Kyi, the NLD administration is also proving to be autocratic and its diplomacy is independent of parliamentary oversight. Its failure to protect the ethnic Rohingya has tarnished its image.

Myanmar experts and international analysts believe that the NLD came to power on the slogan of "change" but there are no signs of meaningful change in foreign relations.