National security interests dictate India's engagement with Burma

By G Parthasarathy

In according a warm welcome to top Myanmarese leader General Maung Aye during his weeklong state visit, New Delhi has conveyed the clear message that it is going to give paramount importance to its national security interests and its regional engagement with its eastern neighbors.

The question naturally being asked in the capital's diplomatic circles in the wake of the visit, that concluded Tuesday, is whether this welcome accorded to Aye signaled any change in India's approach to relations with Myanmar. What are the factors that led to this development?

Pragmatism in the pursuit of national security interests has been the hallmark of the conduct of India's relations with Myanmar over the last seven years

By 1993, New Delhi had come to the conclusion that even though the charismatic Aung San Suu Kyi enjoyed immense popularity in the country's heartland, the military regime was pragmatically making peace with all the ethnic minorities and bringing an end to long standing ethnic insurgencies. In these circumstances there was little or no possibility of the military regime relinquishing power to the National League for Democracy led by Suu Kyi.

Two factors lent urgency to the need for developing a practical and good neighborly relationship with Yangon's rulers. In the absence of dialogue with the Myanmar military, insurgency and narcotics smuggling were assuming alarming proportions in the states bordering Myanmar - Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. Further, taking full advantage of the international isolation of the military regime, China moved in with substantial economic and military assistance supported by a trade regime that promoted extensive border trade.

Beijing's growing influence and presence in Myanmar set alarm bells ringing in the capitals of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN), with Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore embarking on a policy of "constructive engagement" with Yangon. While western countries led by Britain resorted to shrill rhetoric and condemned the military regime, their oil companies did not hesitate to seek lucrative investment opportunities in Myanmar.

It was against this background that by 1993 quiet contacts were established with the Myanmar military leadership and a series of agreements signed to deal with cross-border terrorism and narcotics smuggling and to promote trade and economic development along the Indo-Myanmar border. Yangon was also quietly urged that while India understood and appreciated its efforts to strengthen cooperation with China, there would be serious concern if this cooperation extended to providing military facilities to Beijing on Myanmar soil. There was also recognition in New Delhi that there are deep historical doubts and misgivings in Myanmar about Chinese intentions and policies.

The vicious anti-Chinese rioting in that country in 1967 was only one manifestation of this. The unprecedented public assertion by Myanmar's Foreign Minister Win Aung in New Delhi that his country will not allow any outside power to use its territory against India either for military bases or for the passage of arms has pleased policy makers in South Block as a vindication of their policy of quiet engagement of Yangon's rulers.

The last five years have seen increasing cooperation between the security forces of India and Myanmar in dealing with cross-border terrorism. The largest-ever coordinated military operation was mounted along the borders of Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland with Myanmar in 1995 when groups of militants infiltrating across the borders were challenged and heavy losses inflicted on them. More recently, the Myanmar Army has cooperated actively this year in mounting operations against armed insurgents of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-Khaplang) along Myanmar's borders with Nagaland.

A border trade agreement was signed in 1993 and engineers of India's Border Roads Organization are now building a road linking the border township of Tamu on Myanmar's border with Manipur with the railhead at Kalemyo. This road, to be formally opened shortly, will serve as a vital communications link with Mandalay in Myanmar. It will also, in course of time, become an integral part of the proposed Trans-Asian Highway network. Myanmar is becoming a crucial land bridge linking India with South-East Asia.

Ties with Myanmar are also set to have an important bearing on economic development in India's northeastern states. Discussions have commenced for developing the hydroelectric potential of the Chindwin river in Myanmar. This project would supply nearly 2,000 MW of power for the northeastern states and eventually for the national power grid. There is also considerable scope for the use of Myanmar's gas resources from its yet untapped fields.

Finally, Myanmar has become an active partner in efforts to promote regional economic cooperation in the Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka Thailand Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) grouping that brings together the littoral states of the Bay of Bengal. As the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) stagnates because of Pakistan's unwillingness to have any meaningful trade or economic cooperation with India, it is only natural and indeed inevitable that the resulting regional vacuum is filled by other regional and sub-regional economic groupings that will emerge.