India bets on Thai help for Myanmar foray

Key Shinawatra-Singh meeting today

Keen to get more strategic toeholds in the Andaman Sea, India is likely to offer Thailand “support” in the construction of a deep sea port at Dawei in the southwestern coast of Myanmar — a country which figures prominently in Chinese policy of developing assets in the Indian Ocean region.

India’s offer of support to the Italian-Thai Development Plc, the lead player in the Dawei Special Industrial Zone, is likely to be on the agenda for discussion between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his counterpart from Thailand, Yingluck Shinawatra, on Wednesday. Singh and Shinawatra are also likely to reiterate the commitment of the two governments to the project to link India and Thailand with a 1,360 km-long highway through Myanmar.
Shinawatra will be the chief guest in the Republic Day ceremony on Thursday. She will hold bilateral talks with Singh on Wednesday.

New Delhi’s move to get involved with the Dawei project seems to be a part of its gambit to counter growing Chinese influence in littoral countries in the neighbourhood of India.

Beijing is investing heavily in setting up strategically important deep sea ports in Sittwe in Myanmar, Hambantota in Sri Lanka and Gwadar in Pakistan.

The “String of Pearls” – or Chinese footprints in the waters around India – has been a cause of serious strategic concerns for New Delhi. Singh and Shinawatra are expected to call for an early conclusion of the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, which New Delhi and Bangkok have since long been negotiating for.

New Delhi had in 2010 and 2011 invited South Korean President Lee Myung Bak and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as chief guests for the Republic Day ceremonies. Inviting the Thai prime minister this year appears to be continuation of New Delhi’s desire to strengthen ties with countries in the Asia-Pacific, obviously a diplomatic response to the growing clout of China.

The Dawei port lies on an isthmus on the southwestern coast of Myanmar. The isthmus separates the Andaman Sea from the Gulf of Thailand. New Delhi is interested in the project as the port would help India get a quicker access to South East Asian markets. India has already inked a Free Trade Agreement with the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) for goods and a shorter shipping route would help it boost trade relations with the countries in the region.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna discussed both the Dawei port project and the trilateral highway with his Myanmar counterpart Wunna Maung Lwin on Tuesday. Lwin is on a visit to India.