Jakarta, Indonesia—The strong backing of emerging economic giants China and India of the dictatorship is effectively fending off the demands for democratization of Burma by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).

Prof. Hank Lim, director for research of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, said the junta’s stonewalling is a key stumbling block to the economic integration of the bloc by 2015.

He concluded there should be a shift in the way the Asean and the international community deals with Burma (renamed by military rulers as Myanmar) that?goes around the Indian and Chinese support, if they are to be effective in influencing its democratization.

Otherwise, “There is nothing Asean can do to open up Myanmar. . . it will never buckle down on Asean demands. It is better to engage than isolate it,” said Dr. Lim in his lecture here on the Asean economic integration to journalists.

He said Burma is richer in natural resources, far better than Asean neighbor Indonesia, since it has only a 68-million population compared with Indonesia’s 240 million people.

Lim, who teaches economics at Singapore National University, said Burma is also the only country in Southeast Asia that has borders with India and China, a strategic location to offer its rich gas resources with a pipeline that even now is being built at the expense of its poor people, who are relocated willy-nilly on the whim of the junta.

“Asean should understand that China is now intensifying the establishment of pipelines from Myanmar will always support Myanmar and same thing with India, which is now going West using its [geographical] link to Myanmar,” he said.

He added the US has already realized Burma’s strength as a regional powerhouse linking India and China and began engaging the military junta diplomatically. US President Obama recently sent a diplomatic delegation to Burma to meet with the junta.

“Democratization and stakeholder participation is very basic for the Asean Economic Community scheme. We need to open up because we can’t do that with a close government because no foreign direct investment will come with that type of regime,” said Lim.

He said the commitment of Burma to sign the Asean Economic Blueprint, which integrates the economies of the 10 member-countries, is a major positive step. “But how Myanmar can implement its commitment to the Asean economic integration is another thing, but we must push for diplomatic engagement rather than isolate it.”