Singh's Myanmar visit to define future partnership

New Delhi: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said his three-day visit to Myanmar which started yesterday will define a road map for future cooperation between the neighbours, including forging economic ties.

"Stronger trade and investment links, development of border areas, improving connectivity between our two countries" are areas to focus on, Singh said in a statement yesterday.

India and Myanmar are likely to sign agreements in these areas during the visit, the prime minister said.

Singh, 79, the first Indian leader to visit Myanmar in a quarter of a century, is resurrecting ties to a neighbour with 64 million people and reserves of natural gas and lumber, as Myanmar reconnects with the global economy following five decades of isolation during military rule.

"India welcomes Myanmar's transition to democratic governance and the steps taken by the government of Myanmar toward a more broad-based and inclusive reconciliation process," Singh said in the statement.

The prime minister said he's scheduled to meet with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi during his visit to Yangon and looks forward to "addressing a cross-section of Myanmar society."

‘Gold rush'

India, which in British colonial days oversaw the monetary and financial system of what was then Burma, ranked 13th last year in investments in Myanmar, with $189 million (Dh694 million) pledged in five projects, according to data compiled by IHS Global Insight. China led with $8.3 billion, and South Korea, whose president visited Myanmar earlier this month, pledged $2.95 billion.

"There is a huge gold rush going on in Myanmar right now and everyone is jockeying for position," said Rajiv Biswas, chief economist in Singapore at IHS. "India is being left behind. They are not as aggressive in their economic diplomacy as countries like China and South Korea."

Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein's steps to end military rule have been rewarded with an easing of US and European sanctions, bolstering prospects for a nation the International Monetary Fund said in January could be "the next economic frontier in Asia." South Korean President Lee Myung-bak earlier this month pledged to increase aid to Myanmar and the countries agreed to enhance cooperation on energy and developing resources.

Singh will relax terms on a $500 million line of credit, announce a new bus service between India's northeast and the tourist city of Mandalay and oversee the opening of branches of Indian banks, according to an Indian Foreign Ministry official, who asked not to be named because he isn't authorised to speak publicly on the matter.

Also on the agenda is cooperation to contain insurgent groups with bases in Myanmar that have sought independence or greater autonomy for some of India's northeastern states.