"Nation Building in that country has not been completed" ::::: Myanmarese look at India as 'the land of Buddha' and this should have been used strategically to our 'advantage'

"We never truly know the people we should love -- our neighbour"

Does this statement have a deeper meaning ?

The age-old ethnic ties between north east of India and Myanmar offers a good foundation to work. It has been also acknowledged by experts and keen Myanmar/Burma watchers decades back that -- 'the defence of Burma is the defence of India'. 

"No sacrifice is bigger than what we need to do to ensure that India's interests in Burma are protected," said an expert. It will be important to note that when it is said Myanmar is 'part of South East Asia'; then that country slips out of our area of concern. This is unfair and erroneous. 

Myanmar has importance of its own in India in perhaps more ways than one. 

Blogger -- :: Myanmar border - Along Mizoram 

It may be stated rather assertively that to an ordinary Myanmar citizen; India is a land of Buddha. Hence it may be also difficult to find few Myanmar citizen who does not have 'desire' to visit India as part of his/her religious pilgrimage. But Myanmarese are proud citizens of their country. They want to go to any extent to protect its national independence. 

In other words, they hate to become totally 'dependent and reliant' on China, according to Rajiv Bhatia, India's former ambassador to Myanmar. He also hastens to add: "We must try to understand Myanmar in a proper manner. One fundamental thing is that the Nation Building in that country has not been completed". 

Therefore, what is the resultant is a "fragmented and divided nation".  

On this backdrop; the Indian policy towards Myanmar should be "tailor-made in a suitable manner". 

It must be also understood and rather appreciated that Myanmar has over the decades faced typical challenges in multiple forms -- 

One - Democracy - Its Military's relationship with civilians and political parties.  (It's a fact bulk of the period during last so many decades has been dominated by the military.)  

Military is a powerful factor and this brings into light the significance of Military-Diplomacy that India is at present giving push. 

Rajiv Bhataia mentions that - Myanmar is a country where New Delhi's Military Diplomacy has been very successful. 

Mizoram 

Second challenge Myanmar has been braving through is Federalism. 

It's a fact that for last seven decades they have been struggling with the whole idea as to what and how should be the 'distribution of power' between the centre (federal govt.) and various ethnic and geographical regions of the country. Bhatia has a pointer on this --- "Myanmarese will have to work it out themselves .... nobody can help them".

The third major challenged confronted by Myanmar and its people is that the Economic development has not received due attention. Of course this is essentially because  the first two challenges Democracy and Federalism have always been of serious dimension in that country. 

"I would also like to point out that Future of Myanmar is linked to its past," says Bhatia adding, therefore it is incumbent on "our young scholars to study history of Myanmar to understand where it is likely to go in the future".  On this backdrop comes the importance of four general elections in that country that needs to be understood and analysed well. == 

-- 1990 election, 2010, 2015 and 2020 polls actually "shaped what Myanmar is today".  

In three elections, the National League for Democracy participated and won the polls hands down. Thus it is clear what the common people in Myanmar want.  

This also proves the point about a big disconnect between the people and the military in Myanmar. 

ends