Eastern promise

India must follow up on its promises to Myanmar

The visit of Myanmar's de facto leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to India for multilateral meetings in Goa and a bilateral summit in New Delhi is significant. This is her first visit to India since democracy was restored in Myanmar earlier this year and comes two months after a state visit by Myanmar's President U Htin Kyaw. Ms Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar's pro-democracy movement during decades of military rule, has deep ties with India; she was an undergraduate at Delhi's Lady Shri Ram College. Yet considerable work will have to be done, particularly on India's side, if it is not to lose the initiative in its neighbour entirely to the People's Republic of China. Myanmar's long years of isolation have caused it to have an immense infrastructure gap. It now seeks to parlay its strategic location between the economic powerhouses such as China, India, and Southeast Asia into development gains. It also has considerable natural resources, including natural gas, to be exploited.

In response, Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomed Ms Suu Kyi to her "second home" and extolled the "centuries-old cultural connect" enjoyed by the two countries. Yet, in spite of years of efforts and some ambitious plans, India has not succeeded with the bilateral relationship to the degree that it should have. Much of this is due to the dilatory implementation of various major infrastructure projects. This is particularly worrying as Myanmar's importance to India cannot be understated. It is, of course, India's gateway to East and Southeast Asia. But it is also a crucial security partner. Several insurgent groups operating in India's Northeast are based across the border in Myanmar, and India needs cooperation from the government in Naypyidaw in keeping such rebels contained. This cooperation has been strained at times - including after a junior Indian minister unwisely bragged on national television about raids conducted by the Indian army into northern Myanmar. Other aspects of national security are also dependent on a good relationship. For one, India and Myanmar share concerns about jihadist terror - earlier this month, an attack was conducted on three police facilities in Rakhine state of Myanmar, and the two men handed over by Bangladesh to Myanmar's authorities are believed to have had Pakistani connections.

India must thus step up its efforts to be a constructive partner to Myanmar. In particular, projects surrounding the long-delayed 1,400-kilometre India-Myanmar-Thailand highway and the Kaladan multi-modal project to link Sittwe port in Myanmar with Mizoram must be expedited. The Sittwe port would be the shortest way to connect India's Northeast to the sea. But India invested around $224 million in Myanmar over 2015-16, compared to China's $3.3 billion - 11 times more. No new investment was made by India in the first months of 2016-17. Certainly, there should be no shortages and delays in the disbursement of funds. But even more than that, sustained attention will be needed. As with any infrastructure project, its parameters and requirements can change unexpectedly. Each time this happens, long bureaucratic delays can be a possibility. But such delays will have to be avoided in this case. Prime Minister Modi should seriously consider setting up a high-level working group to ensure delays are minimised and co-ordination between various agencies is optimised.