There is also the engagement in several cross-border infrastructure projects aimed at improving the connectivity between the Northeast and western Myanmar. One of the earliest projects India undertook was to build and finance the 165 km long India-Myanmar friendship highway that links the border town of Moreh in Manipur to Kalemyo in central Myanmar. India has also announced that a formal agreement on the Kaladan sea port project will be signed by both countries shortly and has decided to fund the $100 million Kaladan Multi-Modal Transport Project, which will connect ports on India’s east with the Sittwe port in Myanmar, thus providing an alternate route for the Northeast. India, Myanmar and Thailand have commenced work on the Trilateral Highway Project, which will link Moreh through Pagan in Myanmar to Maesot in Thailand. The highway is expected to be extended to Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, holding out the promise of seamless continental connectivity within Asia.

So far so good. But, while it may be getting the sub-plots right, India may be losing the big picture. A recent official statement noted that India is “keeping its eyes focused on self-interests while dealing with Myanmar”. But if interests form the peg of our policy towards Myanmar, then securing these interests is also surely in our interest. And a Myanmar in turmoil is not in our interest. Similarly, ensuring Myanmar’s role as a stable gateway to the east will be critical to the success of India’s eastward orientation. Having decided to engage, India surely cannot stand logic on its head by hiding behind the fig leaf of Myanmar’s crisis being an ‘internal matter’. The ‘strategic interests’ argument has been reduced to a tired phrase invoked at every instance. How sustainable is the promotion of interests without stability, is an argument curiously missing in policy discourse on Myanmar.

... contd.