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.

SAARC Obituary: BIMSTEC becomes Most Favoured Regional grouping

September 24: By officially pulling out of the SAARC summit scheduled in Islamabad, New Delhi on Tuesday wrote an obituary for the regional bloc that has outlived its relevance. In the face of peevish Pakistan holding SAARC hostage by blocking all development projects, BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) has emerged as the most favoured regional grouping and India has decided to work bilaterally or trilaterally with Afghanistan.

Earlier India had refrained from official announcement on whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi would attend the summit for the heads of states of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC). But as it becomes clear that Modi will not travel to Islamabad this could be a death knell for the regional bloc.
Member countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka are now working towards a more connected and integrated South Asia with visa free people and vehicle movement; and by making energy grids. Only one country will be left behind and that seems to be Pakistan.
In 2014, Pakistan had blocked a common Motor Vehicle Agreement for the SAARC countries to facilitate free transport movement in the region. But on August 28, as Islamabad was busy ratcheting up Kashmir issue, a cargo truck loaded with Garments started for India as part of trial run under the Bangladesh Bhutan India Nepal (BBIN) Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA).  “For long the region’s potential has been curtailed due to one spiteful country, this showcase agreement has been long overdue,” said a senior diplomat.
Over next five years, 30 road projects will be constructed at a cost of $8 billion with technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank. A proposal is there to extend the project to other three members of the BIMSTEC namely – Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand.
The South Asian region has been the least interconnected region in the world with internal trade amounting for only 5 percent of the total trade of the countries. India is also helping Afghanistan to construct rail and road tracks to get it accessibility to Chahbahar Port to reduce its dependence on Pakistan for trade. Most recently Pakistan has been dragging its feet to provide transit rights to India to export wheat required by Afghanistan, despite the “humanitarian” nature of the requirement.
“Afghanistan is now member of WTO (World Trade Organisation) and as such has rights including transit rights and other countries has corresponding obligation to provide transit rights. We all know that the concerned country also a WTO member does not have much respect for global rules whether it is trade in ordinary products or nuclear proliferation. The bottom line is Afghanistan’s right to access has been seriously infringed,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Vikas Swarup said.
On Afghanistan, India has formed India-Afghanistan-Iran trilateral to provide Afghanistan access to Central Asian market and explore alternate trade routes and is working in the India-US-Afghanistan trilateral for building military capability of the country.
This year a proposal for a single visa for the BIMSTEC countries on the lines of Europe’s Schengen visa was mooted. Negotiations are on for a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between these countries that will cover 1.6 billion people with a total GDP of $ 3 trillion.
Pakistan has backed out of the SAARC satellite proposed by India that will provide range of services to all neighbours in the areas of telecommunications and broadcasting applications and disaster management. But enthusiasm on part of other countries, especially Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives and Nepal; means the ISRO-developed satellite is likely to be launched by the end of the year.