Representatives of India's Foreign Ministry delegation (left) discuss bilateral issues with their Burmese counterparts in Naypyidaw on Tuesday. (PHOTO: PTI)
During an official three-day visit to Burma, India's Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna raised the issue of border security in bilateral talks with his Burmese counterpart, Wunna Maung Lwin, on Tuesday in Naypyidaw.
According to news agency Press Trust of India, Burma reiterated its firm assurance that it will not allow its territory to be used as a base for any anti-India activities. Security cooperation has been a major part of India-Burma relations because of the long border—1,463 km—that the countries share.
One of the members of the Indian delegation was quoted by the Indian news agency as saying that “the talks were excellent, positive, constructive and forward looking.”
The delegation also reportedly congratulated Burma on holding successful elections that saw the formation of its first civilian government in decades.
Tint Swe, a New Delhi-based Burma observer, said that India is concerned Burma's growing dependence on China.
Burma's new president, Thein Sein, visited Beijing on his first overseas trip as president last month when he discussed with the Chinese government conditions for the Chinese navy to dock in Burmese ports and secure direct access to the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean.
London-based The Economist reported on June 9 that China is now the country with the greatest influence on Burma, and is the biggest investor in the Southeast Asian nation's energy, dams, mines and other natural resources.
“As its economic interests have grown, China has pressed for more access to Burma’s harbours and territorial waters, to monitor the security of the new port and pipelines and to keep an eye out for pirates. But this is a neuralgic issue for a country with a deep-seated suspicion of its powerful northern neighbor,” the report said.
Tint Swe said that the Indian government is also concerned about the ongoing armed conflicts in northern Burma, and the recent outbreak of hostilities between Burmese government forces and the Kachin Independence Army.
Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Wednesday, Tint Swe said, “Kachin State borders Sagaing Division in Burma, and it is in Sagaing that the Naga insurgents who fight against the Indian army are based. The Indian government wants to apply pressure on the Naga insurgents via its military cooperation with Naypyidaw.”
Earlier this month, the Burmese army reinforced its troop strength in the Ta-nai region of Sagaing Division ahead of clashes in Kachin State. Military observers speculated that the maneuver was directed toward the Naga insurgents, the National Socialist Council of Nagaland.
Prior to his visit to Burma, the Indian foreign minister launched a press release saying that he would discuss 110 million-dollar Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project. “We also propose to initiate a few new projects,” he said in the statement.
Several political observers have said that since India lost the opportunity to invest in the Lido highway project and the Tamanthi dam project, the Kaladan project is its last hope in Burma.
Burma’s government singed an MoU with India’s National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC) in 2004 for the development of the Tamanthi Dam on the Chindwin River in western Sagaing Division. However, Naypyidaw reneged on the deal in May with economic observers saying that the contract would soon be issued to China instead.
The 1,079-km Lido highway, or “Stillwell Road,” was built during World War II by American general Joe "Vinegar" Stillwell to supply Kuomintang forces against Japan. It passes through the towns of Shingbwiyang, Myitkyina and Bhamo in Kachin State.
However, India abandoned plans in 2009 to reopen the road that could have connected its remote northeastern states to China's Yunnan province via Burma.
According to Aung Linn Htut, a former Burmese military intelligence officer, relations between the two countries are largely based on the countries' intelligence services. In 1992, India proposed to Burma's new military junta that the two countries agree to cooperate militarily—channeling military equipment and supplies, exchanging intelligence, and initiating training programs for Burmese military officers in India.
According to Burma's state-run The New Light of Myanmar, the Indian delegation also handed over the paperwork on a 500-ton capacity food security shelter, which was built in the Irrawaddy delta under a Burma-India friendship program.