China has shunned politics to let economics speak when it comes to matters of development. India, meanwhile, continues to stake its growth at the altar of politics. |
The Andaman Sea moved a little closer to the South China Sea this January when a second friendship bridge across the Mekong was opened to traffic. Built with technical assistance from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and funds arranged by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, the 1.6-kilometre bridge connects Mukdahan, on the Thai side of the river, and Savannakhet in Laos, making it possible for an east-west economic corridor across Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam to become a reality. |
The corridor is evolving along a 1,450 km road link between Mawlamyine (Moulmein) in Myanmar and Da Nang in Vietnam, where an existing port is being upgraded and new ones are on the cards. When all the missing sections of the link fall in place and the bad stretches are developed, the corridor will serve as a gateway for a huge hinterland covering northeast Thailand, central Laos and central Vietnam. Cities and towns along the way will become economic centres, spreading prosperity around. Savannakhet, with some 670,000 people, and Mukdahan, with a population of 330,000, are already in the midst of an urban explosion. |
Defining the future of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) is another, equally important, corridor project "" the North-South "" aimed at strengthening the region's links with China. Actually, there will be two north-south corridors, one coming down from Kunming, capital of the southern Chinese province of Yunnan, to Chiang Rai and Bangkok via Laos and Myanmar, and the other reaching out from Kunming to Hanoi and Haiphong and connecting with Vietnam's Highway 1 to Ho Chi Minh City. |
There's also a southern corridor linking Bangkok with Ho Chi Minh City, via Phnom Penh, and undergoing major improvements right now. Together, the three corridors are meant to form a large loop covering all major cities and towns within the GMS, turning it into a truly integrated economic community. |
The Kunming-Bangkok highway, of which the Chinese segment is already complete, will be some 2,000 km long and will require a third bridge on the Mekong to be built. China and Thailand have agreed to share its cost, likely to come up at a point on the edge of the Golden Triangle. The first friendship bridge, between Nong Khai in northeast Thailand and Vientiane in Laos, was a gift from the government of Australia. |
China has espoused GMS with open enthusiasm and it isn't difficult to understand why. It has a huge economic interest in southeast Asia and these economic corridors will bring it closer to the region like never before. In fact, these will serve as channels of exchange for China's proposed free trade zone with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. As Chinese premier Wen Jiabao said some time ago, "a close neighbour is more helpful than a distant relative." |
Last month in Beijing, the GMS nations signed an agreement to simplify cross-border procedures and remove or reduce non-physical barriers. Vehicles will be allowed to cross borders with fewer checks. Little wonder that tour companies in Kunming are going gaga over a likely influx of GMS and foreign tourists into Yunnan and beyond. |
Since 1992, when the ADB first mooted the idea of regional cooperation among the six nations of the Mekong Basin, GMS has moved far towards becoming an integrated community. Through a series of infrastructure and other projects, economic linkages within the region have been strengthened and the entire region has begun to emerge as a zone of common prosperity and a huge potential market for trade and investment. |
India could have played a similar role with regard to its own neighbours in south Asia. Maybe we want to, but we just don't have the right spirit. We've built and tested a nuclear-capable missile that can reach as far as Beijing, even beyond, but haven't pushed well enough to re-establish a lost railway link with Dhaka. We are terrified of open borders. Any trans-national link is like an open invitation to terrorists. |
Why is China such a regional force in southeast Asia while India remains confined within its own backyard? Why is GMS such a roaring success and SAARC""the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation""such a failure, even with eight countries as members and despite being the largest regional association in the world covering 1.47 billion people? |
The answer is short and simple. China has abandoned politics as the instrument of gaining and preserving influence and embraced economics as the sole determinant of its future. India has been unable to make the changeover. It's politics that decides what's best for the country and how its economy should be run. Everything outside of politics is suspect. Even close neighbours must pass our political test. If SAARC suffers as a result, let it. We feel safer. God is in His heaven and all's right with the world! |
Disclaimer: These are personal views of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect the opinion of www.business-standard.com or the Business Standard newspaper