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Pak woos Myanmar



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                            Pak woos Myanmar

The Week magazine (New Delhi)
May 13, 2001

Border disputes, sporadic clashes and hostile neighbours are nothing new
to India. The Bangladesh incident has not faded from memory and the
External Affairs Ministry is already grappling with another worrisome
issue-Pakistan Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf?s visit to
Myanmar in early May.

India sees it as an attempt to open a third front by Pakistan, and
believes that the general?s visit might have long-term repercussions.
?Pakistan is already creating trouble for us from Bangladesh and Nepal
and now they are making overtures towards Myanmar,?

Pakistan recently posted three naval ships in Myanmarese waters. They
include a destroyer Tipu Sultan, a tanker Mobin and a submarine
Shushank. This despite Myanmar?s assurances to India that they will have
no foreign naval ships in their ports.

Before the Pakistani vessels sailed in, a Chinese submarine had been
stationed in Myanmar, and a high-powered Chinese delegation made a
two-day visit to Myanmar on April 25.

?We are sure the Chinese have a hand in this,? said a senior official.
?It is a goodwill gesture towards the Myanmar government by Pakistan
and, at the same time, it is a flexing of muscles towards us.
Intelligence reports indicate the Chinese encouraged the Pakistanis to
go ahead with the docking of the vessels.?

According to officials in the external affairs ministry, the Myanmarese
government has continued to make pretensions of friendship because it
needs India to counter western sanctions. The country has only 28 export
destinations and India is a major buyer of Myanmarese products.

Apart from that, India gave a loan of $10 million to Myanmar in 1997 and
followed it up with another loan of $25 million. Recently Rs 100 crore
was given for a road project from Moreh to Kalamyo. Projects worth $300
million are also in the pipeline.

Why then this sudden shift towards Pakistan? Sources say that the shift
is not sudden. Pakistan has been trying to win over Myanmar Since 1996,
when the Sheikh Hasina?s Awami League came to power in Bangladesh.

Hasina, according to officials, clamped down on anti-India activities on
Bangladesh soil and several terrorist camps were closed down. Pakistan
wanted Myanmar?s help in this regard. Since then Pakistan has covertly
been building madrasas and collecting donations for religiousgroups like
Tabliq Jamat in Myanmar.

The Indian government has definite reasons to be worried. If Myanmar
starts supporting Pakistani-trained military groups and offers training
bases for them, the situation in the northeast could worsen.

Entry into Nagaland and Manipur is not difficult from Myanmar because of
the porous borders. ?By creating further trouble in the northeast,
Pakistan hopes that the Indian Army posted in Jammu and Kashmir will
move their units to the northeast,? said a senior home ministry
official. ?This has been their strategy for the past 21 years.?

Pakistan has been helping Myanmar allowed two Pakistani naval teams to
visit Coco island in December 1996 and 1997. the island is the center of
Myanmar?s eavesdropping activities and Pakistan collected reports of
India?s missile tests. Some of the testing was done in eastern and
southern India, beyond Pakistan?s eavesdropping range, and so they
turned to Myanmar.



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<center><b><font color="#0000FF"><font size=+3>Pak woos Myanmar</font></font></b></center>

<p><b><font color="#990000"><font size=+1>The Week magazine (New Delhi)</font></font></b>
<br><b><font color="#990000"><font size=+1>May 13, 2001</font></font></b>
<p><font size=+1>Border disputes, sporadic clashes and hostile neighbours
are nothing new to India. The Bangladesh incident has not faded from memory
and the External Affairs Ministry is already grappling with another worrisome
issue-Pakistan Chief Executive General Pervez Musharraf?s visit to Myanmar
in early May.</font>
<p><font size=+1>India sees it as an attempt to open a third front by Pakistan,
and believes that the general?s visit might have long-term repercussions.
?Pakistan is already creating trouble for us from Bangladesh and Nepal
and now they are making overtures towards Myanmar,?</font>
<p><font size=+1>Pakistan recently posted three naval ships in Myanmarese
waters. They include a destroyer Tipu Sultan, a tanker Mobin and a submarine
Shushank. This despite Myanmar?s assurances to India that they will have
no foreign naval ships in their ports.</font>
<p><font size=+1>Before the Pakistani vessels sailed in, a Chinese submarine
had been stationed in Myanmar, and a high-powered Chinese delegation made
a two-day visit to Myanmar on April 25.</font>
<p><font size=+1>?We are sure the Chinese have a hand in this,? said a
senior official. ?It is a goodwill gesture towards the Myanmar government
by Pakistan and, at the same time, it is a flexing of muscles towards us.
Intelligence reports indicate the Chinese encouraged the Pakistanis to
go ahead with the docking of the vessels.?</font>
<p><font size=+1>According to officials in the external affairs ministry,
the Myanmarese government has continued to make pretensions of friendship
because it needs India to counter western sanctions. The country has only
28 export destinations and India is a major buyer of Myanmarese products.</font>
<p><font size=+1>Apart from that, India gave a loan of $10 million to Myanmar
in 1997 and followed it up with another loan of $25 million. Recently Rs
100 crore was given for a road project from Moreh to Kalamyo. Projects
worth $300 million are also in the pipeline.</font>
<p><font size=+1>Why then this sudden shift towards Pakistan? Sources say
that the shift is not sudden. Pakistan has been trying to win over Myanmar
Since 1996, when the Sheikh Hasina?s Awami League came to power in Bangladesh.</font>
<p><font size=+1>Hasina, according to officials, clamped down on anti-India
activities on Bangladesh soil and several terrorist camps were closed down.
Pakistan wanted Myanmar?s help in this regard. Since then Pakistan has
covertly been building madrasas and collecting donations for religiousgroups
like Tabliq Jamat in Myanmar.</font>
<p><font size=+1>The Indian government has definite reasons to be worried.
If Myanmar starts supporting Pakistani-trained military groups and offers
training bases for them, the situation in the northeast could worsen.</font>
<p><font size=+1>Entry into Nagaland and Manipur is not difficult from
Myanmar because of the porous borders. ?By creating further trouble in
the northeast, Pakistan hopes that the Indian Army posted in Jammu and
Kashmir will move their units to the northeast,? said a senior home ministry
official. ?This has been their strategy for the past 21 years.?</font>
<p><font size=+1>Pakistan has been helping Myanmar allowed two Pakistani
naval teams to visit Coco island in December 1996 and 1997. the island
is the center of Myanmar?s eavesdropping activities and Pakistan collected
reports of India?s missile tests. Some of the testing was done in eastern
and southern India, beyond Pakistan?s eavesdropping range, and so they
turned to Myanmar.</font>
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