6 - Myanmar: A Challenging Frontier

Summary

Myanmar (formerly Burma), the second largest country in ASEAN in terms of land area, is in many ways a bridge between ASEAN and India and yet a bridge not sufficiently crossed by either and, in the process, left uncared for. Recent history and geography seem to have relegated Myanmar to a neglected corner. For a large country with a rich-resource endowment, a proud past and a strategic location straddling China, India and Southeast Asia in three directions, its influence on the countries of the region has at best remained neutral or marginal. Yet, in India–Southeast Asia relations, Myanmar remains a crucial factor as the internal and external security of Myanmar has a direct and considerable bearing on the vital national interests of India as well as Southeast Asian countries. After all, India has a 1,600-kilometre land boundary with Myanmar, a member country of ASEAN.

Today, Myanmar is the only country in ASEAN where political conditions still remain uncertain and unsettled. The situation in Myanmar marked by the political stand-off between the military and the charismatic leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been attracting international attention and Western countries' criticism of the regime for the treatment meted to her. ASEAN is also under fire from the West for not being able to take action against a member state with regard to the human rights situation there. This has often put ASEAN in a predicament.

The matters of most immediate importance in Myanmar today are how leadership transitions will be achieved within the military regime and what economic policies the army will manage to put in place. A National Convention has been in progress since early 2004 and is entrusted with the drafting of a new Constitution. There is little expectation that the latter will usher in real democracy. Whether the new Constitution will meet the aspirations of numerous insurgent groups of minorities, which have observed ceasefire since the beginning of the Convention, is a moot question.