TODAY -
A New Bond Look East
The Telegraph | Sumanta Sen | Dec 27
It is essential to engage with Myanmar given the change in its policy towards India:
The arrest of a senior Ulfa militant and his aides by the authorities in Myanmar near the Chinese border may well have a positive impact on the relations between India and Myanmar. For far too long has the relationship been premised upon New Delhi’s position that India was not too happy with a totalitarian regime in its neighbourhood.
Such a turn of events could not have come sooner. India continues to be plagued by various militant groups in the Northeast that have, so far, enjoyed the hospitality and assistance of their Myanmarese counterparts, such as the Kachin Independence Army. Earlier, it was being said that Yangon’s rule does not hold good beyond the city, but this does not appear to be the case. This certainly suits India, especially with reports that the Maoists are now trying to spread their tentacles in the region. In this context, the ruling dispensation in Kathmandu is certainly a worrying factor. All the more reason therefore to have Yangon on New Delhi’s side.
Such checkpoints had never been seen in the past. In the early 1980s, the former chief minister of Manipur, Rishang Keishing, had even insisted that he would rather have unemployed youths engage themselves in harmless activities such as carrying goods to Moreh than them turning insurgents. At that time, the goods were mostly medicine and cycles sent all the way from Bentinck Street in Calcutta.
Now the character of the trade has changed. Also, China alone cannot be blamed for the contraband that passes through Myanmar to the border. However, since Myanmar is the immediate neighbour, it is essential to engage Yangon in diplomatic activities. Particularly as the authorities there appear to be more responsive than before.
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* This Post is uploaded on December 27, 2011
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