External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to Burma seems to have gone off well, with the two countries reiterating common interests and signing a slew of bilateral agreements. Of particular significance is the decision taken by the two sides to fence certain stretches of the border, which will help in cracking down on insurgent groups that maintain training camps on the Burmese side. Hundreds of rebels from the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) are believed to have fled to these camps. But State visits shouldn’t detract from the fact that India has yet to have a proactive policy to engage Burma.
For years, India’s policy vis-à-vis Burma was marked by indifference. The most obvious reason for this has been pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s Indian ties that blocked any meaningful dialogue between the two countries. So while other East Asian countries engaged Burma ‘constructively’, India pursued a moralistic policy that compromised its strategic interests. But for India’s ‘Look East’ policies in the early Nineties, bilateral relations would have been worse off. New Delhi appeared concerned about the day a popular government might come to power in Burma, leaving India in an embarrassing position, as happened in Iraq with India’s initial pro-Saddam stance. This proved to be a costly mistake as China used the opportunity to turn Burma into a client State, offering generous doses of political, economic and military assistance.
Unfortunately, this is happening even now: after Beijing opposed a recent UN motion to slap sanctions on Burma, China was promptly offered lucrative oil contracts by the junta. Compare this with the regime’s statement during Mr Mukherjee’s visit that it “cannot guarantee assured supplies of gas” for the proposed Burma-India pipeline, although an Indian survey found enough reserves. So if India is serious about forging a strategic partnership with Burma, it must decide on a more proactive approach to its second largest neighbour.