Mr. Prime Minister is in Myanmar. He has pitched for a “collective vision” among South and East Asian countries. This could be the last foreign tour before the Lok Sabha election. In his two-day visit for Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) Summit, the Prime Minister has stressed that connectivity and sub-regional cooperation is needed for intensifying trade and investment. BIMSTEC is an expression of India’s Look East Policy of the 1990s, coinciding with Thailand’s Look West Policy. The seven members – India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar, Bhutan and Nepal – bring together over 20 per cent of the world population, which is about 1.5 billion, and a GDP of over $ 2.5 trillion. It is speculated that on the sideline of the summit the Prime Minister might also focus on the issue of insurgent groups operating from Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. It is the proverbial killing of two birds with a stone. Mr. Singh who himself is one of the eminent architects of Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) in India, in the wake of opening of the market economy, wants to make sure that the engine of economic growth is well oiled. The world is rapidly surging towards greater trade liberalization and rule-based multilateral trading system. It is a logical corollary to work towards greater multilateral ties like the BIMSTEC once the economy of a country is made open to market economy. In tandem with that, it is also a political necessity to secure the area of trade. In plain words, commonsense tells us that the insurgents of the Northeast operating from the member countries of BIMSTEC have to be flushed out. That is the intention of Mr. Singh led regime. A better trade climate is an impending necessity.
This logic is beautifully illustrated by Arundhati Roy in her Broken Republic, which gives an analytical overview of the Maoist movement in India. In one of the chapters, she argued that the infamous Salwa Judum, a vigilante militia was inaugurated only a few days after Chattisgarh government signed a MoU for construction of an integrated steel plant in Baster with Tata Steel. Prime Minister’s declaration of the Maoist as the ‘single largest security challenge in India’ is also an effort to facilitate business investment in the Maoist belt. The logic of trade and business is the same whether it is inside the territory or outside. Talking about territory, we wonder if Mr. Singh would have time with his Myanmar counterpart to ponder over the issue of border row. The international boundary that Manipur shares with Myanmar has been a disputed one. Though the Prime Minister has given his assurance to an all political party delegation from the state in their visit to New Delhi, that the boundary of Manipur will not be compromised, we have not seen any positive action. Is there a hope beyond the pictorial razzmatazz of the group photograph that the all political party delegation clicked with the Prime Minister? In a departure statement in Delhi the Prime Minister also stressed on the need for ‘regional approaches’ to deal with international terrorism, transnational crime, drug trafficking and mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. We hope the ‘regional approaches’ that he has mentioned will not bypass the regional realities of Manipur.