TODAY -
India ramps up ties with Myanmar, Thailand
Business Standard | Jyoti Malhotra / New Delhi Jan 31, 2012, 00:38 IST :
The road from Moreh, a town on the Manipur-Myanmar border, to Imphal was used by the Japanese army in 1944 to come right inside the heart of British India's north-east, even challenging the might of the empire.
For decades thereafter, the Imphal-Moreh road as well as other border roads in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland were pretty much left to their own fate, as India deliberately ignored the development of border infrastructure, fearful of easing an enemy's passage inside the country once it had broken through the frontier.
But as India revamps its mindset on border areas and begins to look at neighbouring states - such as Myanmar and Bangladesh - as part of a contiguous hinterland that must also participate in India's economic growth, the first glimmer of a shift in South-East Asia's balance of power is becoming slowly apparent.
Take the stream of visitors making their way to Delhi recently, in the run-up to India's commemoration in December 2012 of its "Look-East policy" and its 20-year-old partnership with the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean).
Indian officials point out that strategic interest in Myanmar, as well as in the greater Asean region, can only be complemented by "greater Indian business interest. Indian companies should take advantage of the fact that India refused to kowtow to US pressure and withdraw from Myanmar. Now as Myanmar opens up, they have to be first off the mark," one official told Business Standard.
Essar and ONGC Videsh are making money from their 20 per cent stake in an oil block off the Rakhine coast, officials point out, while a detailed project report on building a 1,200-Mw project on the Chhindwin river is almost ready.
Officials say they hope the private sector will make use of India's $500-million credit announced during Thein Sein's visit to improve ties with Myanmar.
Delhi's intention to expand its presence in the region is at last showing on the ground. Finally, 132 km of a beautiful, road from Moreh, the Manipuri border town, and across the border to Mandalay, as well as the last 165-km stretch to Mandalay has been built.
With the Thais also building their share of the stretch from Myanmar, the trilateral highway between India, Myanmar and Thailand could soon put India's neglected north-east in the heart of Asean's action.
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* This Post is uploaded on January 31, 2012
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