Myanmar's Head of State, Head of Government and Supreme Ruler, General Than Shwe is in Sri Lanka right now. He is here on one of his rare appearances abroad, to commemorate the 60 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Links between Sri Lanka, the former Ceylon and Myanmar, the former Burma, date back to almost time immemorial. Recorded history has it that Buddhism was the golden thread that linked the two with exchanges of visits by high-profile leaders and their retinue and even marriages between the respective Royal families.

In an article in the features section of this newspaper last week, well-known scholar Dr. Hema Goonethillake traced the historical links to the time of King Vijayabahu, the establishment of the Amarapura and Ramanna Buddhist sects and the contributions to the 18th and 19th centuries' educational renaissance in Sri Lanka, and Sri Lanka's contribution to the religious and cultural civilization of the Bagan Empire in ancient Myanmar. For many in Myanmar of yore, Lanka's King Dutugemunu was their hero as well.

The 60 years of diplomatic links following Independence from the yoke of colonialism would therefore pale into insignificance considering the far longer interaction between the two nations and their peoples.

In these 60 years, however, the two countries have taken separate roads on their path towards nationhood. Sri Lanka managed to stay on the democratic path, despite the many hiccups and however rocky the journey has been, while Myanmar succumbed to military rule, beginning, ironically in 1962, when Sri Lanka also faced its first attempted coup d'etat.

Elections, the ultimate though not entirely the all-inclusive barometer of democracy, whether free and fair, have somehow been held in Sri Lanka, and Governments and leaders changed by the power of the ballot rather than the bullet.

An independent judiciary, a fearless Bar, a parliamentary Opposition, a hands-off politics military, an autonomous public service, a free media, trade unions - all the hallmarks of any democracy worth its salt exist in Sri Lanka with whatever shortcomings and drawbacks. With more than half its years of Independence overshadowed by governance under Emergency Rule, Sri Lanka limps along nevertheless, as a fragile democracy.

Comparatively, Sri Lanka lies between the advanced democracies in India and the Western hemisphere - and Myanmar where Gen. Than Shwe rules with an iron fist. None of the pre-requisites of democracy mentioned above exists in that country.

The kudos for Sri Lanka retaining even a facade of democracy instead of a military dictatorship like Myanmar must largely go to the military itself. It is they who have overcome the armed revolts of 1971, 1987-89 and the separatist insurgency of the North, restored civilian administration, and kept the democratic institutions intact as well as safeguarded the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the nation.

In contrast, Myanmar witnessed the coup of 1962 later followed by the 1975 State Protection Law that ushered in virtual Martial Law to the country. The opposition National League for Democracy does not have a semblance of the democratic rights an opposition is entitled to in a democracy and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house imprisonment effectively since 1989. Democratic dissent has been suppressed with a heavy hand; even protesting Buddhist monks were not spared the wrath of the military rulers who crushed their uprising not long ago. Internet access to ordinary citizens has been denied in the fear that they would be in contact with the outside world as Myanmar has become one of the most insecure, insular nations in the world.

Next year, the military junta plans to hold elections to establish what they call the 'road map for a discipline flourishing democracy' a euphemism for the junta to continue. With Ms. Suu Kyi effectively disqualified from contesting due to her incarceration, it would be nothing but a sham election.

Three-way talks between the United States of America, Ms. Suu Kyi and the junta to restore democracy as a quid-pro-quo to the lifting of an economic embargo are all well and good, but economic embargoes, we know, hit the poorest of the poor and not the rulers. We can only hope that things will be better for the ordinary people of Myanmar with whom the people of this country have some affinity, even though that closeness has been distanced in recent years due to Myanmar discouraging foreigners.

We are happy that following President Mahinda Rajapaksa's State visit to Myanmar in June, some relaxation on visits between the two countries has begun, but his administration must also be aware of a Resolution passed by Sri Lanka's Parliament some years ago asking Myanmar’s rulers for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi.

Myanmar's experiences are worth reflecting on in today's Sri Lanka. As the country moves perilously away from a highly militarized environment - an evil necessity to successfully defeat the monstrous separatist threat from the North, the country is witnessing the residue of that militarization.

While the Government needed to boost the morale of the Armed Forces, it in turn could not resist riding on the crest of the popularity of these very elements following their resounding victory over the terrorists. The government's political bandwagon was hitched to the rising star of the Armed Forces victory. Now they rue the whirlwind after they seemed to have sowed with the wind.

The lessons from Myanmar are therefore apt. With all its wealth and resources, Myanmar has neither democracy nor prosperity. At least Singapore has one if not the other.

While we must value our age-old links with Myanmar, and afford the visiting General the courtesies and hospitality due to an invited guest to our shores, however illegitimate his rule may be, we must, with the Blessings of the Triple Gem hope for two things - that Myanmar will return to democracy sooner than later, and Sri Lanka will move further and further away from a de-facto dictatorship to the possibilities of a de-jure military junta State.