Suu Kyi’s first visit to India after democratic elections in Myanmar

October 12: Six months after her Party swept elections in Myanmar, State Counsellor the symbol of the country’s fight for democracy – Aung San Suu Kyi will be coming to India on her maiden visit, albeit her first visit abroad was China. 

The National League for Democracy (NLD) has spent its initial period strengthening its position in the country that has seen over five decades Military Junta rule and Suu Kyi assumed the role of State Counsellor. She would be visiting India on October 14 and after taking part in the BRICS’ outreach programme for members of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral and Technical Cooperation (BIMSTEC) she will be in Delhi till October 19.

“At the invitation of Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, State Counselor of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will pay a State Visit to India from October 17-19, 2016. The State visit will take place immediately after the conclusion of the BRICS-BIMSTEC Outreach Summit to be held in Goa on October 16, to which the State Counselor will lead the Myanmar delegation,” a statement of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced.

Suu Kyi is expected to meet President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Modi and External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj among other dignitaries. The visit assumes significance as Myanmar is pivotal for India’s “Act East” and “Neighbourhood First” policies as India share 1600 km long borders with it. The country also has enhanced significance with its proximity to the north-eastern states of India and can serve as a gateway for the geographically isolated region of India with the South-East Asian countries. India is already working on roads and bridged to link North-East India with Myanmar.

Border management in general is high on the agenda for discussions between the two countries. Myanmar has given assurance that activities of insurgent groups would not be “countenanced” from its territory.

Suu Kyi’s visit has come a after sometime and the importance of Suu Kyi, who has lived in India for her higher studies, choosing China as her first destination abroad after the democratic elections has not been lost on the Indian diplomatic mandarins. The geo-strategic location of Myanmar as an entry point to the Indian Ocean and its isolation following sanctions from the West since the military took over in 1988 was taken full advantage by China. And in the last decade there were some reports of China setting up listening posts on Coco Islands belonging to Myanmar.

With these considerations in mind, Sushma Swaraj visited Myanmar in August followed by a visit by Myanmar’s President U Htin Kyaw.

China keen to revive its hydro-power projects has found favour with Suu Kyi. On the other hand, India has been trying to push the Indian businessmen to take notice of opportunities in Myanmar coming with liberalisation of its procedures for Foreign Investment. The MEA has been observing the “reticence” on the part of Indian industry.

New Alignments, not non-alignment for Indian foreign policy

New Delhi, September 6: The new alignment in India’s engagement with the World will get an evident twist this month as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while giving the Non-Alignment Movement (NAM) Summit a miss; will be cementing New Delhi’s ties with the South East Asian countries as he head to second country in the region in a week. 

After making a pit stop at Vietnam enroute to G-20 summit in the Eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, will be embarking on a visit to Lao PDR on September 7th where he will be attending the 14th ASEAN-India Summit and the 11th East Asia Summit.

“This will be the third ASEAN (The Association of the Southeast Asian Nations) Summit to be attended by Prime Minister Modi. ASEAN is central to India’s Act East policy,” Secretary East Preeti Saran said while elaborating on the importance of the event.

The renewed diplomatic focus on the Mekong sub-region (comprising of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) stems from the fact that it links the Bay of Bengal with the South China Sea through land. The South China Sea is pivotal to Indian interests as 50 percent of its trade passes through its sea lanes. The Mekong sub-region, thus, has become an area of geopolitical rivalry between India and China. 

The Prime Minister will also attend the East Asia Summit of which it has been one of the co-founders. Connectivity and trade will be high on agenda.

The Laos visit will means that the Prime Minister has traveled to all the countries in the Mekong sub-region, barring Cambodia. The region has taken a centre-stage in India’s foreign policy as evident by the Prime Minister’s whirlwind tours to the countries – he reached Hanoi on night of September 2^nd and left for Hangzhou on September 3rd evening. He returned to India on September 5^th evening and shall be reaching Laos on September 7^th.

The visits have been highlighted as the Prime Minister will not be attending the NAM Summit in a departure from the tradition of Indian Prime Ministers attending the event. Top diplomats have been talking about how G-20 is a better representative of the present day world over without explicitly denouncing the relevance of NAM, founded during the Cold War era.

The South Block mandarins have been trying to downplay the turn of events citing Prime Minister Modi’s chock-o-block itinerary for foreign visits. But the subtle signal does indicate a major shift the way India will be conducting its diplomacy.