Having successfully fobbed off the US pressure in the past to upbraid the Burma military junta on its human rights record and back economic sanctions against it, New Delhi is now all set to take its relationship with Naypyidaw a step further. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh heads for Burma on May 28 for a three-day visit, marking yet another milestone in New Delhi’s continuing engagement with its neighbour.
Significantly, apart from visiting Naypyidaw, the PM in all likelihood will be meeting Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi too with one of the three days of his visit set aside for a trip to Rangoon where she resides. The iconic leader recently won a seat in the Burma Parliament with her party winning 43 of the 44 seats it contested in the byelections for 45 seats.
However, officials here, while hailing Ms Suu Kyi’s victory, also note that she or her party — the National League for Democracy (NLD) — may not be able to do much within Parliament. This is so not only because of their smaller number in Parliament but also because under the Burmese Constitution, there is a strict separation between the executive and legislative arms. So the military rulers can still continue to call the shots, officials here noted.
Indian overtures towards Burma are dictated not only by its geo-strategic interests, China has been increasing its footprints in Burma, but also because of its rich natural resources, among them natural gas. Burma has abundant natural gas reserves in the western province of Arakan.
So when President U. Thein Sein made a state visit to New Delhi in October 2011, the two sides “agreed to enhance cooperation in the area of oil and natural gas”. Burma agreed to encourage investments by Indian companies, both in the public and private sector in the oil and natural gas sectors. In fact, OVL, Gail and Essar are already there in the energy sector in Burma.
New Delhi doled out largesse for his country. It agreed to provide $500 million as line of credit to its neighbour. It is meant for “specific projects”, among them irrigation projects, the money for each of which will be approved in keeping with the modalities. The money was in addition to the $300 million that India has already provided as credit to Burma for developing its transport, railways, power transmission etc.