Jul. 26 – The leader of Myanmar’s military junta, Senior General Than Shwe, arrived at Gaya Airport in India’s eastern state of Bihar on Sunday morning to begin a controversial five-day scheduled tour of the country.
Despite Myanmar’s authoritarian government, deplorable human rights record, and refusal to adopt any kind of democratic reform, the country has won over the Chinese and Indian governments recently by using its geographic location to play one country against the other.
Dubbed the world’s “worst dictator” by America’s Foreign Policy Magazine, General Shwe was greeted by a slew of protesters upon his arrival and as he made his way towards the Mahabodhi temple at Bodh Gaya on Sunday.
“It is a great shame for the Indian government to welcome [a man] famous for his criminal acts under international law and his repression of democracy,” Thin Thin Aung, of the Women’s League of Burma, told the Guardian.
Due to arrive in New Delhi Monday evening, the 77-year-old Burmese leader will spend Tuesday meeting with top level Indian officials, including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, as the two parties hammer out and eventually sign several key agreements. Following the decade-long US$120 million Kradan MMTT project signed in April 2008, the two countries are expected to announce another new transportation project, linking India’s Mizoram to Myanmar via the Rhi-Tiddin and Rhi-Falam road.
After Tuesday’s bilateral meetings, Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil will then host a banquet at Rashtrapati Bhawan in General Shwe’s honor.
Some Indian’s are irate about their country’s willingness to cooperate with Myanmar’s military regime, but it is part of a new strategy being utilized in New Delhi which emphasizes engagement over sanctions and neglect. India has previously spent many years pushing for a more democratic Myanmar through these methods with no real results. Now, New Delhi has no choice but to try a new approach as it fears China’s growing influence in the country and the affect it may have on India’s regional strategic interests if it sits idly by.
“A lot of the western countries would rather India had nothing to do with Myanmar, but it is a neighboring country where the Chinese have made a significant investment and there are clear security imperatives for India,” said Rukmani Gupta of Delhi’s Institute for Defense Studies and Analysis.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao traveled to Myanmar’s capital of Yangon last month to discuss the US$4 billion overland pipeline project that China is building in the country, scheduled to be completed in a few years time, as well as future infrastructure projects between the two countries.
China’s energy imports from Africa and the Gulf States are currently shipped through the Malacca Straights up along the coast of Southeast Asia to the country’s eastern provinces. Beijing fears that this route could easily disrupted if a conflict with the United States, or one of its neighboring countries, ever broke out, so these pipelines will allow Chinese ships to offload oil and gas at Myanmar’s coast to be sent overland to Yunnan Province in southwest China.
I don’t think welcoming the Burmese dictator should be seen as “countering China’s moves”.
India benefits by 1) getting Burma to co-operate as regards the insurgents currently hiding out in Burma.
2) get as much gas and oil from Burma as possible.
3) get Burma to agree to allow goods to transit through Burma to other North Eastern States.
4) get Burma to agree to Indian firms like the Tatas to set up businesses in Burma.
I don’t believe that Burma (Myanmar) will take care the 5 promises to India.
1. Insurgents may not be inside junta controlled areas or moreover a few of them might be in Burma.
2. Burma cheats India and sold Gas and oil to China in recent years.
3. North-eastern region may not be easily accessable due to geographical and climate reasons – though operations may be planned in future but will cost alot.
4. Setting any company in Burma by any country is not fair and is act of killing civilians while the world bans it.
5. India, such a biggest democractic country, should inspire junta to release political prisoners includes Nobel Laureate Ms Aung San Suu Kyi as well as stop torturing, killing, raping, robbing etc.
6. Welcoming Sr. Gen. Than Shwe by the Indian Authorities was not wrong as we all are social beings but it will not make any sense to counter China.
7. Burmese junta is taking political advantages by visiting India from China – that means the junta plays counter games between Inda and China.
8. Burmese military junta will only get benifits – watch out!
To George,
Of course, the Burmese military dictator is visiting India for his own reasons. So long as we can get a few of the things that we want, it will be a success for us.
What is the alternative ??? We tried boycotting Burma in 1988-1992 and made as much noise as possible about Aung San Suu Kyi, but to absolutely no avail. Its time we tried something different.
Cheers,
Carlos.
PS–There are no permanent friends, only interests.
I might have moral reservations about any deals with the military regime in Burma, but I can see the geopolitical imperative mentioned in the above article. But did they have to start at Gaya? Does this not seem a little hypocritical, considering the SLORC’s (sorry, State Peace and Development Council’s) attitude towards Buddhist monks?
One other comment is the reasoning behind an alternative route for China is less about a war with United States and more about spurring economic development in its own Great Western Region. This is also linked to the containment of political independence movements in that side of the country.