Supporters of Myanmar's democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi gathered Saturday in anticipation of her expected release from the lakeside home that has been her prison for most of the past two decades. Dozens waited anxiously outside her party's headquarters and her crumbling mansion, a day after hundreds had massed in the hope of a glimpse of the 65-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner.

As stage-managed elections ratify the consequences of three decades of military rule in Burma, the perspective from its neighbour India may help explain why there is continued international acceptance of the country's long-ruling junta. Burma was ruled as part of Britain's Indian Empire until 1935, and the links between the two countries remained strong after Burma gained its independence in 1947. An Indian business community thrived in Burma's major cities, and cultural and political affinities were well established.