TROUBLED BORDERS: As a secure border is a precursor to a peaceful and
prosperous border region, the border disputes between India and Myanmar
must be settled by the highest levels of government.
Northeast India’s inability to move from subsistence agriculture to a production and manufacturing economy can be solved by collaborating with Myanmar
Walking around the Bagyoke Aung San Market in Yangon
gives one a personal sense of the cultural affinity between Myanmar and
northeast India. Goods are stacked in a way peculiar to the northeast
region and the similarity in the products on display is unmistakable.
Every now and then one can hear people speaking in Mizo or some other
common language. The traditional Burmese dress is worn just the way it
is in the northeast and the street food and traditional food items of
both the regions bear a close resemblance too. The saying that Southeast
Asia begins in northeast India takes credence. The way the people of
Myanmar have taken to the use of chopsticks seems like a natural
phenomenon and the adoption of Indian food, including the biryani,
which is believed to have travelled here with the khansamas of Bahadur
Shah Zafar makes it truly a place that author Thant Myint-U calls,
“Where China meets India.”
Yet, India and Myanmar
have not been able to exploit these close historical and cultural
connections. Recent writings and research overflow with expositions on
the opportunities that exist in the developing of connectivity
infrastructure, but the gap between the purported potential and what has
been realised remains enormous. What is also true is that the
northeastern part of India and the western part of Myanmar consisting of
Chin, Sagaing and Kachin states are both underdeveloped. The neglect
leading to low economic and social development in the region has often
been cited as one of the causes for the insurgencies raging on both
sides of the border. Indeed, even as there are shared opportunities,
both regions share very similar risks and challenges.
Stagnant economy
Some
of the key reasons the northeast is unable to move from a largely
subsistence agricultural economy to a production and manufacturing
economy include the lack of scale economies, constraints in the supply
chain of raw materials and the lack of access to a market, mainly
emanating from poor infrastructure and restrictions across the border.
The way out of this is to explore greater collaboration with Myanmar.
The weaving industries in northeast India or the food processing
industries, both in Myanmar and northeast India, have not been able to
grow in a limited market. The expansion of this can provide a wider
consumer base that these industries desperately need to ensure
profitability and sustainability.
This has to go hand
in hand with the development of supply chain hubs that will foster
manufacturing units across the region. These will produce goods that can
be consumed within the larger region and beyond. The rest of Asia has
developed a strong network of supply chain and manufacturing hubs which
in turn would augur well for governments and entrepreneurs of the two
regions to link with. Japan, and to a lesser extent South Korea, have
been particularly significant in developing the manufacturing and
production networks across Southeast Asia. According to forecasts by the
Japan Bank for International Cooperation, India and Myanmar are on a
trajectory which is predicted to see increased economic engagement with
Japan. Today, significant investments have been made by Japan in Myanmar
to help the country develop its infrastructure and in the northeast, it
is one of the few countries which has been invited by the Indian
government to undertake large scale investments. Singapore is another
country which has significant investments in Myanmar. It is also a
country that India is comfortable with inviting to invest in the
northeastern part of the country.
Northeast India
and Myanmar also share similar economic and business structures. The
economy, which is largely agrarian and dependent on the export of
unprocessed primary commodities and in which micro, small and medium
enterprises are prevalent, provides for the basis of industrial
development.
Trade imbalance
Yet the facts of
history and the reality of borders cannot be wished away. Currently,
there is trade imbalance in favour of Myanmar. Given that the
development of a goods export-oriented economy may take some time to
develop in the northeast, there is opportunity to step up trade in
services. This is a sector where, following the relaxation of the
movement of people across the border, a large number of people from
Myanmar have come to educational institutes and healthcare facilities in
the northeast.
Then there are concerns related to
border management and security. There is a border dispute that needs to
be settled by the highest levels of both governments. Even as goods move
across the borders, so do drugs and arms. Human trafficking is another
major issue. A secure and clearly defined border is a precursor to a
peaceful and prosperous border region.
Scholars and
policy makers in Naypyidaw are deeply aware of the need to engage with
India. They have expressed the need to utilise well the northeast
India-Myanmar connectivity project. This is however being jostled
between limited capacity and multiple priorities. India’s own capacity
and political will to see through the numerous projects that have been
touted is under question. Yet the sense of urgency and the realisation
that there is a limited window of opportunity to catch up with the rest
of the world is discernable among stakeholders in Myanmar. In the
northeast, stakeholders led by political leaders need to understand the
opportunities that the reforms in Myanmar have presented. India and
Myanmar must implement projects within their regions in a collaborative
effort, while taking regional governments into confidence. They must
settle outstanding border disputes.
A Manipuri
folklore talks about prosperity that will fill the lands once the
“eastern gates are opened.” Perhaps this foretells what is in store in
the future.
(Laldinkima Sailo is at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore.)
