Al Jazeera.
Chang Mai, Thailand - When Indian foreign minister SM
Krishna traveled to Myanmar in June 2011, he brought with him a gift
of ten heavy-duty rice silos. It was a sweetener for the new Myanmar
government, which had taken office only months before. Krishna became
the first foreign dignitary to meet with newly elected ministers, and
his visit symbolised India's drive to court the quasi-military outfit
now occupying Naypyidaw.
The silos, delivered three years after the devastating Cyclone
Nargis, were however something of a diversion, the more benign face of a
relationship that took root in the early 1990s and sullied India's
image as a beacon of democracy in the region. After it had about-faced
on support for Myanmar's pro-democracy movement during the
administration of PV Narasimha Rao, India became one of only eight
countries to regularly supply weaponry to the Myanmar junta - when
former junta chief Than Shwe trod the red carpet in New Delhi in 2010,
Myanmar expatriates burned effigies in the streets.
India's decision to overhaul a generally principled foreign policy in
favour of a realpolitik agenda was driven largely by the rapid growth
of regional markets, particularly the Asian Tigers - Rao had been able
to exploit growing unease within the Indian cabinet at what it saw as an
overtly idealistic approach to international relations that, despite
winning plaudits from the west, had meant its economy was losing out as
regional countries sped forth.
In Myanmar, India saw a gateway to East Asian markets and a goldmine of natural resource capability. As the "Look East" policy took shape in the early 1990s, officials began tentative approaches to the then ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). In 1993, Rao sent foreign minister JN Dixit to Yangon, a visit that both outraged Myanmar's political opposition, and marked perhaps the strongest signal of shifting attitudes within the Indian cabinet.
In Myanmar, India saw a gateway to East Asian markets and a goldmine of natural resource capability. As the "Look East" policy took shape in the early 1990s, officials began tentative approaches to the then ruling State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC). In 1993, Rao sent foreign minister JN Dixit to Yangon, a visit that both outraged Myanmar's political opposition, and marked perhaps the strongest signal of shifting attitudes within the Indian cabinet.
