An oration by Jishnu Barua, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Assam.

Shri Jishnu Barua, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister, Assam and Principal Secretary to the Govt. of Assam, Border Areas and Secretariat Administration (Archive Department) delivered the first lecture of the Monthly Lecture Series arranged by Dibrugarh University on the topic “Locating Northeast in India’s Geostrategic Environment: Future Trends with special reference to Myanmar and China” at the New Conference Hall of Dibrugarh University, Dibrugarh on 16th August 2013. While highlighting the historical linkages and cultural ties of the Northeast India with Myanmar and China, Shri Barua reflected upon the close association that existed during the colonial period and opined that India must engage extensively with Myanmar socially as well as economically. He expressed serious apprehension about China’s massive presence in the Oil and Infrastructure sector in Myanmar and held that India’s involvement in these sectors would help reconnect the bridge of trust between the two nations, in that way leading to greater economic and cultural co-operation. He also indicated that China’s neocolonial strategies in Myanmar in terms of asserting its political and cultural hegemony, is increasingly resented by a large section of the populace, and most prefer closer ties with India, insofar as there is a great deal of cultural affinities between these two nations, particularly with the North-East. In fact, there is a strong presence of Manipuri diaspora numbering over fifty-thousand. While lauding the initiatives taken by the Government of India to foster closer ties with Myanmar through such measures as the “Look East Policy” launched in 1991-92, he felt that the pace with which it should have been pursued was not evident due to a number of factors, threat perceptions related to the nation’s security being paramount. Shri Barua felt that in the case of China, they were able to move ahead with their developmental projects at a frenetic pace because they have a very poor record of human rights and environmental safety norms. Responding to a question where apprehension was raised on cheap Chinese goods flooding the Indian markets and posing threats to small retailers, Shri Barua indicated that such a trend could not last forever insofar as the tremendous GDP growth of China would enhance the wages of the workers to such an extent that the cost of production would go up. Apart from this, there are a number of problems that China is confronted with, such as the Malacca dilemma. He was hopeful that despite the various problems rearing its ugly heads in the present North-East, demand for separate statehoods being one, there was still the possibility of a line of communication being established between India and Myanmar. The lecture was well received by the members from the academia, administration, the civil society groups, research scholar and the students.