Myanmar/Burma: Inside Challenges, Outside Interests

8. A Strategic Perspective on India-Myanmar Relations

134 A Strategic Perspective on India-Myanmar Relations gurmeet kanwal 8 India and Myanmar were historically part of the extended British Empire in Asia. Since the two countries became independent at the end of World War II, relations between them have by and large been friendly. At the outset Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and U Nu worked closely with each other in the area of economic development. India even provided some military assistance to Myanmar, and both were active members of the NonAligned Movement. However, relations between the two became strained in 1962. India strongly opposed the imposition of military dictatorship in Myanmar by General Ne Win and supported the prodemocracy forces. The Ne Win regime adopted an anti-Soviet stance at a time when relations between India and the Soviet Union were burgeoning, refused to join the Commonwealth of Nations, and withdrew from the Non-Aligned Movement in 1979. Relations between India and Myanmar did improve from 1988 onward, however, although some tensions remained. India continued to sympathize with prodemocracy groups and awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding to Aung San Suu Kyi in 1993, by which time she had already become persona non grata to the Myanmar government. The isolationist strategy adopted by the State Law and Order Restoration Council further hampered the renewal of full relations between the two countries. After 1993, however, India’s policy toward Myanmar was reviewed and India adopted a more pragmatic and less moralistic stance. This purposeful shift The author wishes to thank Samarjit Ghosh, associate fellow, Centre for Land Warfare Studies (CLAWS), New Delhi, for additional research. 08-0505-5 ch8.indd 134 8/30/10 6:11 PM A Strategic Perspective on India-Myanmar Relations 135 from an idealistic foreign policy to one that was firmly anchored in realpolitik has been the driving force behind the improvement of relations between the two countries. Prime Minister Narasimha Rao’s focus on the Southeast Asian nations reflected India’s growing interest in its regional neighborhood. Former Indian foreign secretary Shyam Saran explains India’s quest to reach out to its Asian neighbors in these words: Proximity is the most difficult and testing among [the] diplomatic challenges a country faces. We have, therefore, committed ourselves to giving the highest priority to closer political, economic and other ties with our neighbors in South Asia. . . . Geography imparts a unique position to India in the geo-politics of the Asian continent, with our footprint reaching well beyond South Asia and our interests straddling across different sub-categories of Asia—be it East Asia, West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia or South-East Asia.1 India’s Look East policy was targeted at opening markets in Southeast Asia, and cooperation with Myanmar was important for its implementation. That Bangladesh was a recalcitrant partner in this endeavor further highlighted the importance of Myanmar. Without this shift in policy, the growth of several of India’s northeastern states would have been hindered by the attendant risk of fueling ongoing insurgencies.2 India’s interest in Myanmar and the Look East policy also reflect growing international interest in Asia as an engine of economic growth in the twenty-first century. Myanmar supports India’s quest for a place in the sun and is comfortable with India’s increasing engagement with its immediate and extended neighborhood.3 For the Myanmar government, the additional purpose of addressing problems in the northeastern states comes as a welcome part of the deal. Moreover, India’s move to engage Myanmar closely reflects its growing concern over Myanmar’s jettisoning its policy of neutrality toward India and China and gradually tilting toward China.4 A number of external and internal factors point to Myanmar’s strategic importance for India: —Myanmar is located at the junction of East, South, and Southeast Asia and functions as a land bridge to Southeast and East Asia. For the government of Myanmar, a policy of engagement with India not only helps balance its excessive dependence on China but also helps to boost its “international image and legitimacy.”5 —Myanmar is the second-largest of India’s neighbors and the largest on its eastern flank. The two countries share a land border of 1,640 kilometers, 08-0505-5 ch8.indd 135 8/30/10 6:11 PM 136 Gurmeet Kanwal almost all of it unfenced, along which India’s Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, and Mizoram states border...