The project includes the up-gradation of the sea port in Sittwe, widening and deepening  of the Kaladan river and development of a road to connect  Aizwal.

“The Kaladan project will include shipping, riverine and road transport,” said Jairam Ramesh, the Minister of State for Commerce. Talking to media persons during one of his recent visits to the Northeast, Mr Ramesh also added, “New Delhi wants to connect the Northeast with the commercial sea routes. Moreover, with the development of Sittwe port and the Kaladan river as a navigable route, the region is expected to have another viable access to the South East Asian counties.”

India has decided to spend nearly $ 100 million for the project. The junta, though assured free land for the project, had shown reluctance to invest money in the project, which has finally compelled New Delhi to extend a soft loan of  $ 10 million to the SPDC leaders. The Kaladan project is anticipated to be completed within four years and the project will be executed by the public sector Rail India Technical Economic Services organization.

New Delhi’s move to invest in a Burmese port assumes significance in view of Bangladesh’s reluctance to give India access to the Chittagong port, which is nearer to the Northeast. Chittagong port in Bangladesh is less than 200 km from Agartala, where as Sittwe is around 400 km away from Aizwal.  Mr Ramesh clarified the issue, “It is unfortunate that we have not been able to develop our relationship with Bangladesh to the level of making it our gateway to Southeast Asia.” But he pointed out that New Delhi was constantly working on enhancing ties with Bangladesh.

But the signing of the deal will not be free of repercussions, as the international community has been raising its voice against the military junta for its continued repressive policies on the pro-democracy activists including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and of course poor human rights record in Burma. The image of thousands of agitating monks being subjected to torture in the streets of Rangoon, the former capital of Burma, is still fresh in the memory of most political observers. The junta controlled the movement with a strong hand killing nearly hundreds.

The Burmese exiles irrespective of their organizations have come out heavily against New Delhi for initiating the business deal. The supporters of pro-democracy movement in Burma have raised a single point that India should not invest money at this moment  in Burma as the money will not reach the common people, but the pockets of the Generals. They unanimously point out that it is not the suitable time to invest in Burma, even if one does not endorse the pro-democracy movement led by the Nobel laureate Suu Kyi.

“This is not the right time to build a long-term relationship with the Burmese rulers,” argued M. Kim, the coordinator of Shwe Gas Pipeline Campaign Committee (India). Talking to this correspondent, Kim added, “India must not bury alive its extraordinary democratic values and inspiration of promotion of peace and human rights by dealing business and building relation with this barbaric Burmese military junta which recently not only killed, tortured and imprisoned its own innocent people and monks but also violated religious rights by sealing off monasteries and restricting basic rights of prayers at pagodas.”

Even a public meeting at Aizawl during January resolved to appeal to New Delhi to snap all ties with the military junta as ‘the economic cooperation with them would never benefit the people unless democracy was restored in Burma’. Organized jointly by the Mizoram Committee for Democracy in Burma and the Campaign for Democratic Movement in Burma, the meeting also resolved that New Delhi should work with the UN to find an amicable solution to the Burmese imbroglio. Dr Tint Swe, a leader of National League for Democracy led by Suu Kyi, who is living in exile in India, was also present at the meeting and argued that dealing with Burma ‘would only have a meaning after the restoration of democracy’ there.

Tayza Thuria, a Burmese exile based in London debates  that ‘India’s doing business with Burma and engaging with Burma’s de-facto military government is not wrong in itself’. But the Indian government needs to be careful to maintain a balanced and ethical approach towards Burma; i.e., while engaging with the Burmese government in business and security affairs, New Delhi must also try to persuade, advice and guide the junta to make the systematic democratic reforms in due course of time.

Kyaw Than, the leader of All Burma Students’ League (ABSL), a conglomeration of Burmese students’ organizations in exile, asserted that it is not the suitable time to do business with Burma. He rather claimed, “It is high time for the international communities, more precisely India and China, to come clean on Burma policies. Otherwise, they will be criticized in future that both New Delhi and Beijing had continued business for good reasons but sadly with wrong people.”

Nava Thakuria