Indo-Myanmar Relations in the Era of Pipeline Diplomacy (Author Abstract) (Report‪)‬

Mainland Southeast Asia is a region sandwiched between two of Asia's largest and greatest powers--India and China. (1) The changing relationships between the individual Southeast Asian states and the two hegemons are especially interesting in light of the new geopolitical, globalizing world climate, where economics and trade have taken centrestage and where both China and India are competing for markets as well as political allies. Whilst China has a much more direct link with many of these countries, Myanmar in particular has a joint history with India starting in colonial times. (2) This article will look at the new Indo-Myanmar relations and how the increasing need for energy is underpinning what is going to be a strategic partnership in Asia. Indo-Myanmar relations have been dormant for the best part of half a century. The reason for their revival is more complex than might seem at first and links in with India's domestic, federal, as well as economic and international priorities. For one India experienced a complete overhaul of its foreign policy priorities under the rule of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led NDA government between 1999 and 2004. The details on how this has affected Indo-Myanmar relations are described in another paper (Lall, forthcoming). However, in summary--India turned away from Nehruvian idealism and embraced a healthy dose of realism in its foreign relations. The government started to reevaluate the relations India had with its neighbours in light of the changed and globalized geo-political situation. This trend has been upheld by the Congress-led government which took power in 2004.