India bolsters economic ties with Myanmar

NEW DELHI - INDIA will seek stronger economic ties with Myanmar during a visit starting on Wednesday by the regime's number two general, while still nudging the junta towards democracy, officials and analysts said.
Vice-senior General Maung Aye was to spend four days in New Delhi for talks with Indian leaders centred on economic cooperation, security and energy.

During the visit, the neighbours would sign a deal for 130 million dollars (S$179.5 million) of Indian investment in Myanmar's Sittwe port, a transport ministry official said.

The development would enable cargo vessels from India's Mizoram state to navigate the Kaladan River to Sittwe on the edge of the Bay of Bengal.

'This will give India's landlocked northeast access to a new trade route to southeast Asia. It will enhance connectivity and not only benefit India but Myanmar as well,' said the official, who asked not to be named.

New Delhi is also looking at improving border trade, upgrading the road linking Manipur state's Moreh town with Tamu in Myanmar, a commerce ministry official said.

India's exports to Myanmar in 2005-2006 totalled 490 million dollars (S$676 million) while imports were below 100 million dollars, according to foreign ministry figures.

'We are laying the foundation of a stronger economic partnership. We will also discuss an avoidance of double taxation accord with Myanmar,' the commerce ministry official said.

The boost to ties - four years after the regime's strongman Than Shwe visited - follow last year's pro-democracy protests led by Buddhist monks against Myanmar's military rulers.

Since 1998, India has extended more than 130 million dollars in credit loans for infrastructure development in Myanmar.

In August, energy-deficient New Delhi pledged 150 million dollars for gas exploration in Myanmar.

The investments have drawn criticism from the international community, which has been urging New Delhi and Beijing to pressure Myanmar to speed up democratic reforms.

New Delhi, which was until the mid-1990s a staunch supporter of pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi, has cultivated close ties with the military regime in recent years, citing its huge energy requirements.

India has consistently opposed economic sanctions as counterproductive but says it is urging Myanmar to introduce reforms.

New Delhi, which has twice hosted UN special envoy to Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari, said in January it was 'worried' Myanmar was not moving fast enough on democratic reform.

'India has very little in the way of options. Its abiding national interest compels it to engage Myanmar. But it must be underscored that engagement does not necessarily mean endorsement,' said independent analyst C.U. Bhaskar.

A senior home ministry official noted that India and Myanmar share a common border of more than 1,600 kilometres.

'There are security concerns vis a vis India's (insurgency ridden) northeast,' he said.

'We need ties with Myanmar to ensure our security interests are looked after,' he said, adding that the neighbours have cooperated in flushing out rebels along their joint border.

India is also competing with its main Asian rival, China.

'In the last 15 years, there has been a visible increase in the number of Han Chinese who are resident in Myanmar,' increasing Beijing's influence in the region, he said. -- AFP