.png)
.jpg)
India has a Look East Policy and China has a Go West Strategy. One of the intersecting areas of these policies is Myanmar. The success of both the strategies depends highly on the success of engagement of Myanmar by either country.
China identified a need to develop the central region of her country to cover the vast economic gap it has between its coastal regions, which have benefited tremendously since Chinese exponential growth on the world arena, vis-a-vis the central and western regions. Thus, in 2001, China launched its Go West Strategy, also known as the Western Development Programme. It covers the municipality of Chongqing and the provinces of Gansu, Guizhou, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Sichuan and Yunnan as also the autonomous regions of Guangxi, Inner Mongolia, Ningxia, Xinjiang and Tibet (Under Chinese occupation). The proximity of Myanmar to the southern regions namely Yunnan and Sichuan is what makes Myanmar important. It is a ready market for all the goods manufactured in these provinces of China, apart from the obvious benefits accruing from building of China-Myanmar oil and natural gas pipelines. These new strategic energy channels of China are expected to be completed by end of May this year and could begin operating in early June. News reports indicate that the main parts in Myanmar have been completed, while those in Chinese territory will be completed soon. Crude oil will be shipped from the Middle East via the Indian Ocean and will enter China via the Myanmar oil pipeline without having to cross the risk-prone Strait of Malacca. The 1,100 km long oil and natural gas pipelines run from the port of Kyaukpyu on Myanmar's west coast and enter China at Ruili, Yunnan Province. The oil pipeline has a designed annual transport capacity of 22 million tonnes, while the natural gas pipeline has a designed annual transport capacity of 12 billion cubic meters. The channels will significantly increase the energy supply to the country's underdeveloped south-western regions.[1]
Alarmed by the growing influence of China in Myanmar, The US is making all efforts to improve its relations with Myanmar with a counter balancing aim. And as a corollary, not to see their influence decrease, China recently appointed, Wang Yingfan, a former vice foreign minister, special envoy to Myanmar to specifically work on the China Myanmar relations[2] It appears that the stage is getting set for Myanmar to become the arena of conflicting interests between the US and China. The Chinese activities bear an uncanny similarity with what they did in Pakistan - building infrastructure, developing rail and road networks, development projects and taking control of ports to secure her energy corridors. There is also the factor of the Kachin rebels on whom the Chinese wield a reasonable amount of influence, a card which they can always play, to exert pressure on Naypyidaw. However along with these developments, there are reports of China possibly losing her influence over Myanmar.[3] Monks and villagers protested against the growth of the Mongywa copper mines. Also for the first time, Myanmar suspended construction of Myitsone Dam in accordance with the will of the people of that country. China also sent troops to the borders with Myanmar, fearing that the fighting between Myanmar government and rebel groups could spill over.
The time is thus ripe for India to engage Myanmar with higher levels of interaction. India must pay heed to the warning that a US Senator echoed that Myanmar – once a part of British India- risked becoming a province of China.[4] Jaswant Singh, India’s former foreign minister was the architect of realism in seeing Myanmar as a land and sea bridge towards the ASEAN region.[5] During this phase there were military to military dialogues and political rapprochement. India continues to take steps in the right direction by visiting Naypyidaw with high level delegations as seen recently with visits led by Salman Khurshid, India’s Foreign Minister and by Mr AK Antony, the Defence minister, to bolster defence ties ranging from better border management to capacity building of the Myanmarese armed forces.[6] Joint naval exercises and visiting each others ports are also signs of the increased engagement. There are also news reports of India training Myanmarese pilots to fly the Russian origin MI 35 attack helicopters. These are but a few steps in the right direction for higher engagement with Myanmar.
A PricewaterhouseCoopers report[7], of 2012, titled “Myanmar Business Guide”, points to the difference between the investments made by China which stood at USD 13,949 million as compared to a petty low of USD 262 million by India. For greater engagement of Myanmar more business must move in. This could well begin by encouraging entrepreneurs and businessmen to enter Myanmar’s opening of economy in sectors allowed for foreign investment namely, agriculture and irrigation, livestock and fishery, forestry, mining, power, oil and gas as also industries involving foodstuffs, textile, personal goods, household goods, leather products and similar products, transport equipment, building materials, pulp and paper, chemicals, chemical products and pharmaceuticals, iron, steel, machinery and plant, construction, transportation and communications. A very simple way to motivate our entrepreneurs, but shockingly overlooked, is to have direct flights to Yangon, Naypyidaw or Mandalay International airports. All of these at present have to be routed with a stopover at Thailand. Compare this to China which has connectivity from multiple airports every day to Myanmar. Direct flights from the capital as also from Guwahati, Kolkatta, Mumbai or Chennai to the international airports in Myanmar must definitely be considered to give a boost to bilateral business.
The Look East Policy needs to be more proactive both in thought and deed. Perhaps it should be renamed as GO EAST POLICY lest it remain a mere window shopping activity.
By Special Arrangement with The Centre For Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS) (http://www.claws.in)