INTRODUCTION

Myanmar is located where the Chinese and Indian civilizations meet. Cultural interaction between Myanmar with China and India enriched Myanmar culture. Both Myanmar and India shared colonial rule. The British brought in Indians to expand rice production, but the Indians never intended to settle permanently in Myanmar; in fact they were simply guest workers. When the Japanese army entered Myanmar in 1942, half a million Indians left the country on their own free will. In 1945, they tried to come back, and many succeeded in doing so. But just before and after independence, laws were passed to control immigration, to discourage immigrants in getting citizenship, to prevent land alienation and to nationalize land for redistribution. About 200,000 Indians left Myanmar during 1962–64, when attempts were made to indigenize the economy. People of Indian descent are now in the process of being integrated into Myanmar society and they could be relied upon to form a bridge in strengthening the existing ties between Myanmar and India still further.

GEO-STRATEGIC SIGNIFICANCE

Myanmar is located in the Indochina peninsula and shares common borders with China on the north and northeast; Lao and Thailand on the east and southeast; Bangladesh, India and the Andaman Sea on the west.The length of contiguous India-Myanmar boundary stretches 1,331 kilometres.

Myanmar bridges South Asia and India with Southeast Asia. It is India's gateway to ASEAN. India, on the other hand, could become Myanmar's window to The European Union (EU) via the Middle East. The two near neighbours, India and China are fast emerging as regional powers. An opinion poll conducted by Yomiuri-Shinbun in July 2006 placed India in the third place after China and the United States; Japan was ranked fourth in the world economy (Takio Yamada, see this volume). Myanmar receives strategic significance by virtue of its geographic location.

PEOPLE

Hman-nan Ya-Zawin (The Glass Palace Chronicle), prepared under the aegis of King Ba-Gyidaw (1819–37) by a committee of learned monks, Brahmins, and ministers formed in 1829, suggests that the lineage of Myanmar kings was linked to the Sakyan clan, Aryan race (Hla Pe 1985, p. 37). Pyus belonged to the Tibeto-Myanmar ethnic group (Ba Han 1965, The Guardian, 31 July 1965). Mons (Talaings) are believed to have come from Teligana (Kalinga), India. Burial urns excavated suggest the existence of a dynasty named Vikrama, a chief of Indian blood.