TODAY -
Myanmar's Critical Role in Bolstering India's Look East Policy
Arvind Gupta | Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses | February 2, 2012 :
India implemented a Look East Policy (LEP) in the early nineties, aimed at strengthening relations with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states. In keeping with its bid for a leadership role in Asia and beyond, India seeks greater integration with ASEAN and is striving to create an Asian Economic Community. Looking back, it can be said that the Policy has been moderately successful. India's relations with ASEAN and its member states have developed significantly over the years. The India–ASEAN Free Trade Agreement, signed in 2009 and operationalised in 2010, has been a tangible outcome of India's LEP.
A major lacuna in India's LEP has been the absence of deep engagement with Myanmar, which is not only India's neighbour—sharing a land border with India—but also a gateway for India to ASEAN. Closer engagement with Myanmar will give a boost to India's LEP.
Another key impediment has been the relative lack of development in India's North-East region. The North-East must be made an integral part of India's LEP as both a key driver and a staging post for the Policy.
The North-East region has the potential to become a manufacturing hub for engaging with neighbouring Bangladesh, Myanmar, and ASEAN in general. For this, the North-East needs to be connected more densely with Bangladesh, Myanmar, and the ASEAN region beyond. This will require building infrastructure—roads, railway lines, river transport, airports, tourism infrastructure, border check-posts, educational, and health infrastructure, etc.—in the North-East on an urgent basis. The GoI needs to invest big sums in the region in order to make LEP a success. Moreover, linking the North-East to Myanmar and Bangladesh will help in the development of the region and address the issue of poverty.
As Myanmar opens up to the outside world, India can aid it immensely in nurturing its nascent democracy. The two neighbours have a historic opportunity to come close to each other once again and transform their bilateral relations as well as the larger region. Myanmar is rich in natural resources, and consistent and long-standing cooperation with India will help it develop its true potential. For India, cooperation with Myanmar will help transform the North-East, bolster its LEP, and help it emerge as a major Asian power.
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* This Post is uploaded on February 02, 2012
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