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G Parthasarthy

Isolated Myanmar

Imagine a situation where the charismatic Amitabh Bachchan is questioning a young contestant on the verge of becoming a crorepati. As the young man and his family conjure up dreams of how they will invest their new-found fortunes, Amitabh poses a seemingly simple question.

He asks: "Name one neighbour of India that is regarded as the sacred land of Lord Brahma, was historically referred to as 'Swarnabhoomi -- The Land of Gold' and that has a 1,600 kilometre land border with four of our states."

Perplexed, the young contestant scratches his head. "It must be Nepal or Bhutan," he thinks. Being cautious he calls his father on the 'Helpline.' "It must be Nepal" avers the father. Alas, as the young man conveys what his father has advised, his fortunes plummet.

This is a very real scenario in our national life. Many Indians can narrate much about the United States and the European Union, but know very little about the spread of Indian civilisational influence over the centuries to its neighbours.

Few of us would know for sure that the country being referred to by 'Amitabh' is a traditionally friendly neighbour, and indeed a country we have tended to forget or take for granted -- Myanmar.

The ignorance of even the educated Indian in India about Myanmar flows not only from his yearning for things Western, but also because of the isolation that Myanmar chose to adopt for nearly three decades, during the rule of General Ne Win.

The military takeover in 1989 that annulled the results of elections held earlier led to international criticism. With young Myanmar student activists seeking refuge in India, the entire approach of our diplomatic establishment became uni-dimensional and focused almost exclusively on the restoration of democracy.

Those who championed "pragmatic policies" of non-interference and engagement in relations with countries ranging from the Soviet Union and China to Vietnam and Saudi Arabia, suddenly became champions of placing the restoration of democracy in Myanmar above the interests of our national security and of peace and tranquility in our northeastern states.

By 1992, narcotics smuggling and cross-border insurgency assumed alarming proportions in Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram, even as New Delhi and Yangon studiously refused to talk to each other.

It was finally pressure from the armed forces and the chief ministers of states bordering Myanmar, that led to then prime minister P V Narasimha Rao ordering a review of policies towards Myanmar, and adopting a policy of quiet engagement and good neighbourly relations with our eastern neighbour.

While it was noted that Indian public opinion was strongly in favour of the restoration of democracy in that country, New Delhi adopted a policy of non-interference and the development of extensive bilateral and regional cooperation with Myanmar.

The recent visit of the vice-chairman of Myanmar's Peace and Development Council General Maung Aye is the logical outcome of what New Delhi sees as the advantages of befriending Myanmar and adopting policies broadly similar to those adopted by that country's South-East Asian neighbours.

Our relations with Myanmar are now looking at new horizons with the passage of time. As our interaction with the economies of the ASEAN countries seeks to attain new dimensions, Myanmar gathers increasing strategic importance in our 'Look East' policies, as our only land bridge to South-East Asia and Indo-China.

Engineers of the Border Roads Organisation will soon complete work on the construction of a highway linking Tamu on the Manipur border with the railhead to Mandalay at Kalemyo. This highway will be a part of the larger Asian Highway Network traversing across the Asian land mass. It will be an integral part of our efforts to build new bridges of bilateral and regional economic co-operation with the entire economically vibrant East and South-East Asian regions.

In the years following the events of 1989 in Myanmar, it was China that had the foresight to realise that there were innumerable strategic and economic opportunities to be secured by dealing positively with the authorities in Yangon.

Border trade grew rapidly and the markets in Yangon, Mandalay and other townships were flooded with goods from China. These Chinese economic moves were supplemented by liberal military assistance.

It was, however, the growing Chinese interest in providing radar and other equipment and in developing some of Myanmar's ports that set alarm bells ringing in the capitals of ASEAN members and in New Delhi. ASEAN countries soon announced a policy of "constructive engagement" with Myanmar, leading to a series of high level exchanges and a boost in economic ties.

By 1997 Myanmar was admitted to ASEAN as a full member of the organisation. New Delhi also realised, albeit belatedly, that its strategic and security interests made increasing interaction with Myanmar imperative.

The BIMSTEC economic grouping set up in 1997, bringing together the littoral states of the Bay of Bengal -- Bangladesh, Indian, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand is a significant initiative to build bridges of economic co-operation between members of SAARC and the member States of ASEAN. Co-operation within the BIMSTEC and in the newly formed Ganga-Mekong Initiative should serve as a catalyst for moves to develop a larger Asian economic community.

The close interaction with Myanmar has shown substantive benefits in promoting our security and regional interests. Confidence was soon promoted to such an extent that in 1995, the Indian and Myanmar armed forces launched a coordinated operation against well-armed groups of insurgents from the NSCN (IM), the PLA and ULFA amongst others, in an Operation code named 'Golden Bird.'

Such co-operation has continued, with the Myanmar armed forces launching operations in close consultation with us against the NSCN (Khaplang) -- the insurgent group has not joined the NSCN (IM) in ending its military operations.

There has also been expanding co-operation in dealing with the menace of narcotics trafficking. Contacts between the military authorities and the home ministries of the two countries have led to growing co-operation in transforming the Indo-Myanmar border into a border of peace, tranquility and co-operation. Representatives of state governments bordering Myanmar actively participate in discussions on these issues.

If Myanmar's border trade with India has not grown as fast as its border trade with China, then one must acknowledge that the procedures that the Chinese have adopted to promote border trade are far simpler and more liberal than those adopted by us. It is only when the political leadership in New Delhi realises that it is increasing economic interaction along our borders that promotes growth and prosperity of the border areas and takes measures to achieve this, that our relations with countries like Myanmar will attain their full potential.

Unrealistic trade practices and procedures only serve as incentives to promote cross-border smuggling. We should develop viable counter- trade agreements with Myanmar to purchase agricultural products including rice for our northeastern states in return for sales of Indian products.

Likewise, the immense hydro-electrical potential of Myanmar's rivers close to our borders can be tapped to meet the growing need for electrical power in India. Myanmar's agricultural potential is so rich that despite continuing Western sanctions, it is today a net exporter of food grains. And the five lakh people of Indian origin in Myanmar have benefited immensely from the policies of economic liberalisation adopted by the government, especially in the agricultural sector.

A Pakistani friend of mine recently asked me why we were avoiding a dialogue with General Pervez Musharraf, even as we were warmly hosting Myanmar's General Maung Aye. I told my friend that General Maung Aye represented a government that had cooperated extensively with us in dealing with cross-border terrorism and in promoting bilateral and regional co-operation.

We would be happy to accord a similar welcome to General Musharraf, when he stopped proclaiming jihad against us from the rooftops, ended cross-border terrorism and worked constructively with us to promote trade and economic co-operation both bilaterally and regionally. It is time that a conscious effort is made to explain this simple home truth to those sections of public opinion in India that naturally have some doubts and misgivings about recent developments in our relations with Myanmar.

G Parthasrathy served as India's ambassador to Myanmar from 1992 to 1995.

G Parthasarathy