Given Aung San Suu Kyi's release from prison, and her immediate rise to a position of tangible, and evidently growing, political power, it was no surprise that the Government of India felt the need to smooth things over. We've always lauded her strength (remember, we gave her the Jawaharlal Nehru award); but in the last decade, we've had to be nice to the Junta, even extending the full Athithi Devo Bhava treatment to Than Shwe during his visit two years ago - frequently drawing ire from her and her supporters across the globe. Granted, New Delhi is probably more than experienced when it comes to dealing with confused neighbours (what with not one or two, but three of the countries we share borders with, finding peace in ostracizing their Nobel laureates), but in a time when Myanmar's political future is bright yet uncertain, it is only sensible to play safe - to pick issues on a Prime Ministerial visit that won't ruffle feathers. Manmohanji hit gold with his decision to give Myanmar the mother of all credit lines, and the talk about energy policy. The latter is certainly something both countries need, and given the three most important things when it comes to energy policy - location, location and location - are all going for Yangon, it's as important for both sides to figure out what is going to happen.
When Myanmar discovered natural gas - I believe it was around '08 - the SPDC was quick to realize its potential, and they played their cards very close to their chest. The proverbial elephant that Delhi is, we showed some indecision before ONGC bought a pittance of a stake in the mining activities. While our plans for a long-term contract to develop infrastructure and purchase much of this gas were drudging along the pipeline, China went ahead and built a pipeline, and India's take-away from the new gas find has now been reduced to ownership of minority stake in a pipeline project between Myanmar and China. Beijing, as it has done before, is most certainly going to milk every drop of leverage it can get from every dollar it is paying for this natural gas, and how that will pan out, should there be a sudden disruption in the political kinda-sorta-impasse that exists in the region, is hard to tell.
Much of the electricity generated by two large hydroelectric power plants in Eastern Burma will be purchased by India - the Myanmar Business Network very proudly claiming that "Myanmar could be India's Energy Supplier". This means that renewables will carve out an infinitesimally larger slice of our energy portfolio, than they do now; at that level if nothing else, this is a positive step for India.
As it gets clearer and clearer that energy problems - from national security to rural electrification - are high on our Government's agenda, the need for a clear-cut, future-focussed, long-term energy policy stance is now higher than ever. As a culture, India has thought of sustainability for at least a thousand years before the word came to be, and given our growing need for energy - inexpensive energy - we must and should cease the day.
When Myanmar discovered natural gas - I believe it was around '08 - the SPDC was quick to realize its potential, and they played their cards very close to their chest. The proverbial elephant that Delhi is, we showed some indecision before ONGC bought a pittance of a stake in the mining activities. While our plans for a long-term contract to develop infrastructure and purchase much of this gas were drudging along the pipeline, China went ahead and built a pipeline, and India's take-away from the new gas find has now been reduced to ownership of minority stake in a pipeline project between Myanmar and China. Beijing, as it has done before, is most certainly going to milk every drop of leverage it can get from every dollar it is paying for this natural gas, and how that will pan out, should there be a sudden disruption in the political kinda-sorta-impasse that exists in the region, is hard to tell.
Much of the electricity generated by two large hydroelectric power plants in Eastern Burma will be purchased by India - the Myanmar Business Network very proudly claiming that "Myanmar could be India's Energy Supplier". This means that renewables will carve out an infinitesimally larger slice of our energy portfolio, than they do now; at that level if nothing else, this is a positive step for India.
As it gets clearer and clearer that energy problems - from national security to rural electrification - are high on our Government's agenda, the need for a clear-cut, future-focussed, long-term energy policy stance is now higher than ever. As a culture, India has thought of sustainability for at least a thousand years before the word came to be, and given our growing need for energy - inexpensive energy - we must and should cease the day.
