Myanmar leader coming for transit route deal is India's rebuff to Dhaka

When Myanmar's second top-ranking leader Gen. Maung Aye signs the $110 million Kaladan multi-modal transport deal with his Indian hosts later this week, New Delhi would not only be opening its landlocked North-East region to sea routes but also sending a rebuff to Dhaka for not having agreed to a similar deal.

New Delhi is likely to roll out a red carpet for Aye, vice-chairman of Myanmar's ruling State Peace and Development Consul, who arrives here tomorrow on his five-day visit to sign the deal.

Interestingly, it was Aye's visit in 2000 that had thawed the Indo-Myanmarese relations from a state of deep-freeze following the 1988 military coup in Yangon.

Desperate to find routes out of the north-eastern states, New Delhi had, in vain, tried to seek from Bangladesh a transit corridor to the Chittagong port, which is merely 200 km from the nearest Indian airport of Agartala. After initial dilly-dallying, Dhaka had virtually rejected this proposal, leaving New Delhi high and dry.

According to official sources, Aye's signing the deal on Kaladan would therefore also send a message to Bangladesh that "India is not ready to be pushed into desperate positions so easily".

According to sources in the ministry of external affairs, Aye would be discussing "economic cooperation, connectivity, security and energy" during his interactions with the Indian leaders.

Myanmar's return to democracy is also likely to figure in the talks as India is playing a proactive role in bringing the military junta and the detained pro-democracy leader Ang Sang Suu Kyi to the negotiating table.

Aye, who is bringing with him an official delegation to sign several bilateral deals, is scheduled to meet President Pratibha Patil, Vice-President Hamid Ansari and BJP leader LK Advani during his visit.

He would also be visiting Buddhist pilgrimage sites of Bodhgaya, Sarnath, Varanasi, Jamnagar and even Bangalore.

The signing of Kaladan multi-modal transport agreement comes after six rounds of talks initiated in 2003 between officials of the two countries.

According to the agreement, India would contribute $100 million towards upgrading waterways and highways along the Kaladan river (running across Myanmar and Mizoram) and development of Sittway port in Myanmar's northwestern Rakhine state.

The alternative route would provide the north-eastern states access to sea routes, as Sittway is about 400 km from Mizoram capital Aizwal.

The proposed link is likely to be completed in five years. Sources said details have been worked out towards the joint management of the transport link and for its possible transfer to the private sector at a later stage.

Since 2000, India had been pursuing its economic interests in the oil- rich country in spite of growing criticism for the alliance between world's largest democracy and the military dictators in Yangon.