When it was announced that Sushma Swaraj would visit Myanmar, it is inevitable that comparisons will be made with the early April trip of Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, who was the first overseas dignitary to visit the country after the National League for Democracy took charge on March 30, ending more than 50 years of military rule. (The visit was later postponed due to the Indian minister's ill health.)
Many believed that a high-level visit from India should have preceded that of China given that New Delhi has had close ties with the ruling party – specifically its leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who is also foreign minister. This was one of the key reasons for India’s thorny relationship with the military junta, until PV Narasimha Rao, the architect of India’s Look East Policy, re-established links with the junta in the early 1990s.
It is important for India to send a clear message that while it will not easily cede space to China, its relationship with Myanmar is not restricted to merely containing China either. In this context, it is important for India to focus not just on enhancing bilateral trade, and accelerating the pace of investments into the country, as well as strategic partnership – which are likely to be high on the Indian foreign minister’s agenda – but also assisting in capacity building and strengthening of institutions. While India has been pro-active in assisting with capacity building, this needs to be further accelerated. For instance, more exchanges not just between parliamentarians, but also civil servants, members of the judiciary and journalists from both countries are needed.
During commerce minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s visit to Myanmar in February 2015, one of the important decisions taken was India’s offer to assist in improving the quality of Trade Training Institutes in Myanmar, and also providing training to the country’s officials on important WTO and trade negotiations. This is a subtle way of sending a clear message that India is not just interested in Myanmar’s natural resources but is keen to build robust institutions and to play a positive role in the consolidation of democracy.
In addition to the above measures, India should seek to increase the level of assistance for English language training, and in the sphere of Information Technology. There’s already the Myanmar-India Centre for English Language Training in Yangon but more such centres should be set up; India can also provide English language teachers. In the sphere of Information Technology, India has provided assistance to the Myanmar Institute of Information Technology as well as the India-Myanmar Centre for Enhancement of IT Skills. Beyond this, New Delhi should organise visits to IT hubs such as Hyderabad and Bangalore for students and IT employees.
A deeper involvement
Apart from the above measures, it is also important to deepen and broaden ties in other spheres.
First, regarding education, it is imperative to give more scholarships to Myanmar students given the cultural commonalities between both countries. While some scholarships have been offered through the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, India has also offered scholarships through Myanmar’s Education Ministry, which 40 students have availed of to study subjects including Buddhism, Sanskrit, religious studies, arts and dance. India could perhaps emulate not just China, which shares a border with Myanmar, but also Japan which provides generous scholarships for Myanmar students for a wide array of courses.
Second, besides government universities, even private universities should be involved. Recently, a number of Indian universities (mostly private) participated in a university fair in Yangon. Several private universities across India already have students from Myanmar who have shown a special interest in subjects like management, engineering and health. There is also a growing interest in specialised areas like international trade and economy. While private universities in India that offer BBAs have already begun to attract students from Myanmar, universities offering International Relations and International Economics related courses should be more pro-active in wooing students from that country.
Third, apart from infrastructure projects seeking to strengthen India’s Act East Policy, it is important to enhance connectivity as this will help not just in strengthening business linkages but also enhancing people-to-people contact. The Imphal-Mandalay bus has still not begun, even air services between both countries are minimal (there are only two direct flights). India needs to enhance connectivity through the Northeast, as well as other parts of India. A number of Indians are keen to visit Myanmar but are unable to do so due to the lack of connectivity. While India should focus on connectivity, Myanmar should promote its tourism through fairs and exhibitions. There are a number of historical sites of interest to Indians such as the tomb of Bahadur Shah Zafar, and a building in Yangon that once housed Subhash Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army.
Fourth, it is important to encourage more dialogue with Myanmar. While in recent years, some think-tanks and organisations like the Youth Forum on Foreign Policy have sought to build bridges with civil society, there is clearly room for more such initiatives and broadening such interactions.
In conclusion, the bilateral relationship needs to be pragmatic, but not restricted solely to economics, and neither should it be dictated by the China factor. As a stable democracy, which has handled its diversity reasonably – albeit with some hiccups – and mustered up healthy growth rates, India has enough to offer.
Tridivesh Singh Maini is a New Delhi based policy analyst, associated with The Jindal School of International Affairs, OP Jindal Global University, Sonipat.