The Indian envoy to Myanmar on Tuesday called State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi’s televised address on the Rohingya issue encouraging, and said it contained a very positive message.

Vikram Misri said that India appreciated the problems Myanmar was facing. “This is something in which we recognise the right of the authorities to provide security and defend themselves against violent attacks,” he added.

Misri added: “We would like the situation to be dealt with in the context of rule of law. She has spoken about the process by which Myanmar will be ready to take back the refugees who have gone across the border and further steps will be taken in accordance with laws here in terms of national verification.”

Earlier on Tuesday, Myanmar’s de-facto leader Suu Kyi broke her silence on the escalating crisis in the Rakhine state, which the United Nations has referred to as an “ethnic cleansing”. In a televised address from the country’s capital Naypyidaw, she said her government is also concerned about the Rohingya crisis, which has invited international condemnation against the country.

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“We too are concerned. We want to find out what the real problems are,” Suu Kyi said in her State of the Union address. “There have been allegations and counter-allegations. We have to listen to all of them. We have to make sure those allegations are based on solid evidence before we take action.”

Suu Kyi also claimed that the majority of Rohingya villages had not been affected by violence.

The Rohingya crisis

The Rohingyas have been denied citizenship in Myanmar, and are classified as illegal immigrants, despite them claiming roots going back centuries in the country. The community has been subjected to violence by the Buddhist majority and the Army in Myanmar. The country’s de-facto leader and Nobel Peace Prize-winner Aung San Suu Kyi has been criticised for failing to stand up for more than 10 lakh stateless Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine.