GUWAHATI, May 26 – It would be better to open up the North East to Bangladesh rather than try to link up the region with Myanmar, suggested French scholar Renaud Egreteau here today. Egreteau, who was speaking at a seminar in the city, felt that India should “think twice” before opening up to Myanmar.
Egreteau was invited by The Centre for Northeast India, South and Southeast Asia Studies (CENISEAS) of the Omeo Kumar Das Institute of Social Change and Development to speak on the topic: “India’s Northeast: Gateway or Boundary with Myanmar?” Egreteau is a doctoral candidate in Political Science at the Institute of Political Science, Paris and is currently based at the Centre de Sciences Humaines at the French Embassy in New Delhi.
Egreteau, who has travelled extensively in West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Myanmar, Thailand, China and Bangladesh, said that the India needs to open up the North East to its international neighbours, but would have to be ready to face economic and strategic challenges from China, which has already taken a lead. He suggested that India would do well to explore maritime links with Southeast Asia rather than try to establish continental links. “It would be cheaper,” he said.
Tracing India’s policy shift towards Myanmar to the late 1990s, Egreteau said that the need to tackle the North East insurgents camped in Myanmar and the growing economic importance of Southeast Asia forced the change in mindset. Earlier, India had remained cold towards Myanmar’s military junta while supporting the pro-democracy movement there.
According to Egreteau, Myanmar too is keen to establish economic links with India, especially the North East. India, on its part, is trying to use Myanmar as the route to reach out to the Southeast Asian tigers. The volume of trade between the two countries has also increased from a mere $ 87 million in 1990-91 to $ 500 million last year.
Highlighting the links between Myanmar and the region, Egreteau pointed out that the two areas share many cultural and ethnic similarities. Moreover, the insurgents of the region have always ignored the political boundaries and the mountain barriers have not proven to be much of an obstacle for them. “The Government of India is aware of the connections that North East insurgents have established with the Myanmar rebel groups,” he said. Egreteau felt that one of the primary reasons behind India’s recent friendly moves towards Myanmar was to deal with this. “Both governments have narrowed their criticisms of one another.”
Yet another attraction for India is the possibility for opening up a sea route from the region to south western Myanmar circumventing Bangladesh. The region’s militant groups have been using this “trade corridor” for long, Egreteau stated.