[The new road and river link will bypass Bangladesh, which has denied
access to Indian trade via Chittagong ****t due to domestic political
opposition ..... "They said they would sell their gas to India and
China, but cannot ex****t gas to Bangladesh at the moment. Myanmar
would consider selling gas to Bangladesh only after new discoveries
are made." ]
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JD05Df01.html
Asia Times
Apr 5, 2008
India lays out a red carpet for Myanmar
NEW DELHI - India has come to realize that the main beneficiary of
strained India-Myanmar relations will be China, whether for access to
all-im****tant hydrocarbon energy sources, trans****t corridors or
strategic control of the maritime waters of the Indian Ocean.
India has thus accorded prime im****tance this week to the visit of the
second-most im****tant person of Myanmar's ruling military junta,
General Maung Aye. Apart from China and a few East Asian nations, it
is unlikely that any other country would extend the kind of red carpet
welcome laid out for Aye by New Delhi.
Aye has had audiences with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Vice
President Hamid Ansari, Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee
and the top brass of the defense forces. Bringing to fruition a series
of meetings between Indian and Myanmar officials, Aye and Ansari inked
a major trans****t agreement that will link a crucially located Myanmar
****t with a remote and underdeveloped part of northeastern India.
The US$130 million project permits India to develop Myanmar's Sittwe
****t on the Kaladan River - a project that could turn into an
im****tant international trade hub - and possible military logistical
base - for the land-locked northeast.
Prior to this, trade has only been possible via a longer and
circuitous route through West Bengal by way of an already overcrowded
Siliguri corridor, also known as "the chicken's neck".
The new road and river link will bypass Bangladesh, which has denied
access to Indian trade via Chittagong ****t due to domestic political
opposition.
"India, which is one of the largest im****ters of pulses will be able
to get them directly from Myanmar instead of via Singa****e," said
Minister of Commerce Jairam Ramesh.
The route will also provide India an access point to Sittwe, a city
located just off the Kaladan River that is being developed as an
onshore hub for Myanmar's gas once the vast reserves in the Shwe
fields in the Bay of Bengal are depleted.
India and China are competing over the massive Shwe natural gas
development project. Ironically, India's state explorer, Oil and
Natural Gas Corp and utility Gas Authority of India Limited, are
partners under the majority stakeholder, South Korea's Daewoo.
According to a press statement, India has also signed a tax treaty
with Myanmar to check evasion and to boost trade and investments. The
double taxation avoidance agreement will cover taxes on individual
incomes, company profits, dividends, interest and capital gains.
It is apparent that India will not desist from dealing with Myanmar in
all matters despite Western pressure.
The Foreign Ministry, though, issued a politically correct statement
that Manmohan "underlined the need for Myanmar to expedite the process
and make it broad-based to include all sections of society, including
[opposition icon] Aung San Suu Kyi and the various ethnic groups in
Myanmar".
But Ansari emphasized India's position that international sanctions
will be "counterproductive" to the economic progress of Myanmar and
detrimental to the interests of the people.
This is a reiteration of Mukherjee's statements last year that the
United Nations should not impose sanctions on Myanmar and that New
Delhi does not have any problems dealing with military regimes in its
regional neighborhood.
The Kaladan agreement is being viewed as the first serious step in
implementing New Delhi's "Look East" policy, of which Mukherjee is a
big proponent.
Aye's visit follows an aggressive diplomatic initiative launched by
India in Myanmar. This year, India's foreign secretary visited Myanmar
to coincide with the declaration by the military junta of a
constitution referendum in May and democratic elections in 2010.
For over a decade India has been trying to engage Myanmar, with which
it shares a 1,600 kilometer border, despite international pressure to
isolate Yangon over its human rights record and the recent crackdown
on pro-democracy protesters.
Officials and experts have proffered various reasons for India's
approach. India's geographical proximity to Myanmar makes it im****tant
to engage with it, and trade and economics are essential for both
parties. Additionally, Delhi has cited the need for joint operations
to confront separatist elements in India's northeast which find refuge
in Myanmar.
India has also been very uncomfortable with the prospect of China's
involvement in building ****ts in Pakistan (Gwadar), Sri Lanka and
Myanmar. Recent re****ts suggest China's aid to Sri Lanka for
infrastructure projects has crossed $1 billion, more than double the
amount being invested by the traditional partners, India and Japan.
Such efforts by Beijing open the possibility of India being enveloped
by a Chinese naval presence from all fronts. However, it is still
quite unlikely that India would have resisted international pressure
to the extent it has, had it not been for Myanmar's rich natural gas
resources. Myanmar's proven gas reserves stood at 19 trillion cubic
feet (tcf) at the end of 2006, with vast areas yet unexplored.
Over the past five years, China has made massive investments in
Myanmar to build its case for the energy sources. Beijing has followed
a similar strategy in Asia, Africa and Latin America to win energy
blocks and has recently struck deals in Kazakhstan, Russia, Indonesia,
Nigeria and Angola - in most cases beating out India as one of the
main contenders.
Much to India's chagrin, China has even offered to buy gas from Iran
should India opt out of the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline.
India has been dilly-dallying about the IPI due to US pressure to
forestall the project.
In response to Beijing's efforts, Myanmar has already inked a
memorandum of understanding with PetroChina to supply 6.5 tcf of gas
from Block A of the Shwe gas fields in the Bay of Bengal for over 30
years. This was seen as a big blow to New Delhi's efforts to bring gas
from Myanmar.
It is increasingly apparent that it will be either China or India that
will be given the rights to oil and gas from Myanmar. Yangon recently
rejected a request to sell gas to Bangladesh to help the country meet
its growing energy crisis.
Bangladesh's Deputy Energy Minister M Tamim has been quoted as saying,
"They said they would sell their gas to India and China, but cannot
ex****t gas to Bangladesh at the moment. Myanmar would consider selling
gas to Bangladesh only after new discoveries are made."
Outbid by Beijing for energy blocks across the world, an alarmed New
Delhi has thus softened its stand against Myanmar in the past year.
Last September, India's Petroleum Minister Murli Deora visited Myanmar
to sign exploration agreements, even as massive pro-democracy protests
broke out. Deora had rushed to Myanmar after being publicly
reprimanded by the Prime Minister's Office for failing to beat out
China in Myanmar's energy stakes.
Recent re****ts suggest China is mulling the prospects of building oil
and gas pipelines from Myanmar to its southwestern province of
Yunnan.
Clearly, India has a formidable task ahead.
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