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UPSC PortalMagazine
Vol. - 17 Sept., 2010
Disclaimer:
Editor and Publisher are not
responsible for any views, data,figures etc. Expressed in the articles
by the author(s). Maps are notational.
Sr. Honorary Advisor:
Sant Prasad Gupta
Honorary Editor:
Ram Kumar Pandey
Executive Editor:
Dr. Divya
Asistant Editor:Avadhesh Kumar Pandey
Dr. Nageshwar Nath Mishra
Dr. Sachchidanand
Honorary Advisors:
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Editorial
Where
there
is a will ...
Myanmar's Head of State
Visit to India
SECTION - 2
India-Mauritius
Relation
SECTION - 6
CSE Main 2010 Special:
Study Package :
(Science & Technology)
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http://upscportal.com/civilservices/contactSports World
India to provide USD 1
Bn to Bangladesh
New Symbol for
Indian Rupee
SECTION - 3
Public Distribution
System
CONTROVERSY
World of
Awards
SECTION - 5
Current Affairs
SECTION - 4
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"Where there is a will, there is a way" is a familiar and well-known saying. But only few
understand and act upon it. This saying underlines a very vital fact of life. Man is ambitious;
he is full of desires, he needs force of will power to fulfil these dreams.
Without determination and a strong will, nothing can be achieved. Determination is one
of the secrets of success. Those who work hard are crowned with success, others are like cats
that wish to eat fish but dare not wet their feet.
God helps those who help themselves. Napoleon believed that the word "impossible"
was to be found only in the dictionary of fools. There is nothing impossible in the world for a
man of steel, will power and unyielding determination. Take the example of Maharana
Pratap and Shivaji. They are well known in history for their iron will, strong determination,
courage, heroism and patriotism. Rana Pratap fought bravely against such a powerful king as
Akbar, despite successive defeats but never surrendered in slavery.
Again, take the example of Mahatma Gandhi, a frail man but a man of iron will and
strong convictions. He won us freedom through non-violence, Satyagraha and non-
cooperation. A determined person takes hurdles as a challenge and overcomes them with
hard work and tireless efforts.
History is full of many bright examples to show us how people turned seeminglyimpossible work into a possibility and success. If you have an unshakable, resolute will and
carry on your efforts, as did these great men of history, you, too, are bound to have what you
want.
In this volume of UPSCPORTAL magazine you can find New Symbol for Indian Rupee
as featured article and articles are Myanmar's Head of State Visit to India, India- Mauritius
Relations and Public Distribution System. In section of hot topics you will find India to
provide USD 1 bn to Bangladesh and BlackBerry Controversy. With regular columns also
we have provided special study package for Civil Services Main Examination 2010 on
Science & Technology.
So we hope with these study materials you will make your efforts better for success in
upcoming challenges.
Wish You All the Best
Ram Kumar Pandey and UPSC Portal Team
Where there is a will ....
Editorial
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ndia has finally got a symbol
for the Rupee and joined a
select club of countrieswhose currencies have an unique
identity. The Union Cabinet on Jul 15,
2010 approved the design, which
includes both the Devnagiri 'Ra' and
the Roman capital 'R' and has two
parallel lines running at the top. The
parallel lines symbolise the equal to
sign.
The symbol selected has been
designed by an Indian Institute of
Technology-Bombay postgraduate D
Udaya Kumar and was selected from
among five short listed symbols.
Kumar, who joined the Department
of Design at IIT Guwahati, explained
that the design is based on the IndianTricolour.
"My design is based on the Tricolour
with two lines at the top and white
space in between. I wanted the
symbol for the Rupee to represent
the Indian flag. It is a perfect blend of
Indian and Roman letters: a capital
'R', and Devnagari 'Ra', which
represent rupiya, to appeal to
international and Indian audiences.
After working on the design for few
months, I shortlisted eight to 10
designs and then refined them
further till I got this one," said Kumar.
His entry was chosen from 3,000designs competing for the currency
symbol. He will get an award of Rs 2.5
lakh. All new notes will now bear the
symbol.
Though the symbol will not be
printed or embossed on currency
notes or coins, it would be included in
the 'Unicode Standard' and major
scripts of the world to ensure that it is
easily displayed and printed in the
electronic and print media.
Among currencies with distinctive
identities, only the pound sterling has
I
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New Symbol for
By : Ram Kumar Pandey
Featured Article
A step towards globalisation
Indian Rupee
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its symbol printed on the notes.
Unicode is an international
standard that allows text data to be
interchanged globally without
conflict. After incorporation in the
global and Indian codes, the symbolwould be used by all individuals and
entities within and outside the
country.
The symbol will be adopted in a
span of six months in the country, and
within 18 to 24 months globally and it
will feature on computer keyboards
and software for worldwide use.
New Rupee symbol won't show
soon on computers
Vendors of computers, mobile
phones, and software say they will
support the symbol for the Indian
rupee that was approved by the
Indian cabinet. But it may be over two
years before the rupee symbol starts
showing on computers and mobile
phones, analysts said.
Many vendors are also undecided
whether they will offer the new
symbol on keyboards and keypads, or
as additions in software to the
character set supported by their
devices.
Nokia, for example, welcomed themove by the Indian government to
have a symbol for the rupee, and said
it would abide by the rules and
regulations in this regard. However, a
company spokeswoman said it's too
early to comment on how the symbol
will be implemented, whether on the
phone keypad or on the character list.
For computers, mobile phones
and other computing devices to
understand the symbol, it has to be
first encoded, said Pradeep Parappil,
lead product manager for Windows
and Windows Live, at Microsoft India.
The new symbol has to be submitted
by the Indian government to the
Unicode Consortium to be encoded
and allotted a code point in the
Unicode Standard, he said.
The Unicode Standard is a
character coding system designed to
support the worldwide interchange,
processing, and display of written
texts of diverse languages and
technical disciplines, according to its
website. The latest version of the
Unicode Standard is Version 5.2.0.
The time required to add the new
rupee symbol to products does notdepend on vendors at this point, but
on the time it will take for the
inclusion of the encoding in the
Unicode Standard, Parappil said.
Once a new version of the
standard, which has the code point
for the rupee symbol, is released by
the Unicode Consortium, Microsoft
will start work to include it in the
Windows operating system and other
products, Parappil said. He did not
specify the time it would take to
include the changes. Users will not
have to buy new software, but will
likely receive downloadable updates
to their existing software, he added.
The Indian government decided
to select a symbol for the Indian
rupee to reflect the country's
economic growth and its integration
with the global economy. The symbol
will also distinguish the Indian
currency from some other currencies
in the region like those of Pakistan
and Nepal that are also called rupee,the government said.
The symbol will be used by all
individuals and entities within and
outside India after its incorporation
in the Unicode Standard, the ISO/IEC
1 0 6 4 6 s t a n d a r d f o r c o d i n g
multilingual text, and the Indian IS
13194 standard, the government said
in a statement on Thursday. Unicode
C o n s o r t i u m a n d t h e I S O
(International Organization for
Standardization) Group responsible
for ISO/IEC 10646 decided in 1991 to
create one universal standard for
coding multilingual text.
The Indian government does not
appear to have any illusions that it
will take some time before the rupee
symbol gets added to computers,
mobile phones, and other computing
devices. The encoding of the symbol
in accordance with Indian standards
is estimated to take about six months
while encoding in the Unicode and
ISO/IEC 10646 standards will take
about 18 months to two years, it said.
Influence of Indian Economy.
So far the Indian Rupees was
abbreviated as Rs, Re, or INR. "Thesymbol should represent the
historical and cultural ethos of India.
The proposal to have a unique symbol
for the Indian Rupee was the idea of
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee
that he brought up in his Budget
Speech for this fiscal. "In the ensuing
year, we intend to formalise a symbol
for the Indian rupee, which reflects
and captures the Indian ethos and
culture," Finance Minister Pranab
Mukherjee announced in his Budget
speech in Parliament.
The introduction of a unique
symbol for Indian Rupee reflects the
importance of Indian economy in
global economy. So far, US dollar,
European Euro, British Pound, and
Japanese Yen were the only members
of the elite class of having unique
symbols for their currencies.
A step towards globalisationEvoking national spirit and inter-
national attention the Indian rupeeattained a new avatar in its new
symbol. A distinct identity with a
blend of the Devanagri 'Ra' and
Roman 'R', the Indian currency will be
joining the elite club of the U.S. dollar,
the European euro, the British pound
sterling and the Japanese yen.
This would distinguish the Indian
currency from its neighbouring
countries' Pakistan, Nepal, Sri
Lanka and Indonesia similarly
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known rupee or rupiah.
While declaring the intention of
the government to have a symbol for
the Indian rupee, Union Finance
Minister Pranab Mukherjee had
stated in his last budget presentation
that: We intend to formalise a
symbol for the Indian rupee, which
reflects and captures the Indian
ethos and culture.
With this, Indian rupee will join
the select club of currencies such as
the U.S. dollar, British pound sterling,
euro and the Japanese yen that have
a clear distinguishing identity.
Political dimension
The growth story of India is intact andmany would be interested in
correlating the new symbol with its
economic growth and ambition to
become an economic super power.
However, the introduction of the new
symbol is having a pol i t ical
dimension. While Pranab Mukherjee
spoke about ethos of the country in
Parliament, it was definitely, on the
largest democracy of the world. As
compared to other Asian powers,
especially China, India's strength lies
in its democracy.
T h i s n e w s y m b o l i s a l s o
considered as a step towards
internationalisation of Indian rupee.
While the U.S. dollar, the British
pound, the euro and the Japanese
yen are widely traded currencies,
Indian rupee is only partially
convertible.
Further, majority of world's
currencies are also f loat ing.
Convertible currencies are defined as
currencies that are readily bought,sold and converted without the
permission from a central bank or
government entity. The Indian rupee
is only partially convertible as the
c e n t r a l b a n k c o n t r o l s t h e
international investments flowing in
and out of the country.
With a new symbol, the issue of
full capital account convertibility
would be revived again. However, the
recent global financial crisis again
proved that India would not be able
to take such risks though one may say
this as a weakness for the Indian
currency in the global arena.
The Prime Minister, Manmohan
Singh in a speech at the Reserve Bank
of India (RBI) on March 18, 2006,
referred to the need to revisit the
s u b j e c t o f c a p i t a l a c c o u n t
convertibility. He had said: Given the
changes that have taken place over
the last two decades, there is merit in
moving towards fuller capital
account convertibility within a
transparent frameworkI will
therefore request the Finance
Minister and the Reserve Bank to
revisit the subject and come out witha road map based on current
realities. Y. V. Reddy, the then
Governor of RBI, in consultation with
the government, appointed on
March 20, 2006, a committee to set
out the road map towards fuller
capital account convertibility.
Capital FlowsVolatile capital flows have been a
central issue during the recent
financial crisis, which surfaced
around 2007-08, and continue to be
so now as the crisis is ebbing.
Emerging market economies (EMEs)
saw a sudden stop and reversal of
capital flows during the crisis as a
consequence of global deleveraging.
India has followed a consistent policy
on capital account convertibility in
general and on capital account
management in particular. Our
position is that capital account
convertibility is not a standalone
objective but a means for higher andstable growth. We believe our
economy should traverse towards
capital convertibility along a gradual
path the path itself being
recalibrated on a dynamic basis in
response to domestic and global
developments. Post-crisis, that
continues to be our policy. We will
c o n t i n u e t o m o v e t o w a r d s
liberalising our capital account, but
we will revisit the road map to reflect
the lessons of the crisis, D. Subbarao,
Governor, RBI, stated recently.
CorrelationThe recent crisis has clearly been a
turning point in the world view oncapital controls.
The Asian crisis of the mid-90s
demonstrated the risk of instability
inherent in a fully open capital
account. Even so, the intellectual
orthodoxy continued to denounce
controls on capital flows as being
inefficient and ineffective. The recent
cr i s i s saw , acr oss e me r g ing
economies, a rough correlation
between the extent of openness of
the capital account and the extent of
adverse impact of the crisis. Surely,said Dr. Subbarao this should not be
read as a denouncement of open
capital account, but a powerful
demonstration of the tenet that
premature opening hurts more than
it helps.
Notably, the International Monetary
Fund (IMF) published a policy note in
February this year that reversed its
long held orthodoxy. The note has
referred to certain 'circumstances in
which capital controls can be alegitimate component of the policy
response to surges in capital flows'.
Now that there is agreement that
controls can be 'desirable and
effective' in managing capital flows in
select circumstances. The Indian
rupee is likely to remain a partially
convertible currency, at least in the
near future as Dr. Subbarao put it:
How emerging market economies
manage the impossible trinity the
impossibility of having an open
capital account, a fixed exchange rateand independent monetary policy
is going to have an impact on their
prospects for growth, price stability
and financial stability.
Historically under the British Raj
Indian rupee was fully convertible.
While many starved and famines hit
the country, a small section was
buying palaces and other assets in
Europe.
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yanmar's Head of State,Senior General Than Shwe
visited India from 25 to 29
July 2010. This was a religious cum
official visit. He came with a big
entourage of ministers, officials and
family members. This was his second
visit to India the first one was in
October 2004.
The visit was scantily covered by
the local media and there was no
press conference or press briefing on
this visit, though a detailed joint
statement was issued by the Ministry
of External Affairs on 27 July, 2010, on
the discussions between the two
sides.
On arrival in India in the state of
Bihar on 25 July, 2010, Than Shwe
visited Bodh Gaya and other places of
Budhist interest near by. After visiting
Sarnath temple (Varnasi), he arrived
in Delhi on 26 July and was received
by India's Foreign Minister S. M.
Krishna. On 27 July, 2010, he was
accorded a ceremonial reception atRashtrapati Bhawan and a banquet
was hosted by the President in his
honour. On the same day Than Shwe
had a meeting with the Prime
Minister of India Dr. Manmohan
Singh which was followed by
delegation level talks.
On 28 July 2010 Gen Than Shwe
was in Hyderabad where he visited
the L & T Infocity, Bharat Biotech, a
leading biotechnology company and
the famous Salar
J a n g M u s e u m .
Before concluding
his visit, on 29 July,
he visited the Tata
Motors Plant in
Jamshedpur. Tata
Motors is establish-
ing a plant in Myan-
mar and is hopeful of
starting production of 1000 heavy
trucks from this plant from 2011.
The highlights of the JointStatement issued by the Ministry of
External affairs on 27 July which
summarises the issues discussed,
agreements made and the conce-
ssions extended to Myanmar are :
The Indian side agreed to consider
Myanmar's request for assistance
in the three areas namely: IT
development, Industrial develo-
pment and Infrastructure deve-
lopment in Myanmar.
Construction and revamping of
the Rhi-Tiddim road at a cost of
more than US$ 60 million.
Grant of US$ 10 million for
procurement of agricultural
machinery from India.
The two leaders agreed to
cooperate in the implementation
of the Tamanthi and Shwezaye
projects on the Chindwin River
Basin in Myanmar.
The Myanmar side conveyed their
gratitude for India's line of credit
of US$ 64 mi l l ion in the
transmission lines sector to be
executed through M/s. PGCIL.
The two leaders agreed to
upgrade the microwave link
between Moreh to Mandalay
under a line of credit of US$ 6
million from India.
The restoration of the historic
Ananda temple in Bagan to be
undertaken with the assistance of
the Archaeological Survey of
India, with the involvement of the
Ministry of Culture of Myanmar.The following agreements signed
between India and Myanmar by
different ministers/officials of the
two sides were also witnessed by
Chairman, State Peace and
D e v e l o p m e n t C o u n c i l o f
Myanmar, Senior General Than
Shwe and Prime Minister Dr.
Manmohan Singh.
Treaty on Mutual Assistance in
Criminal Matters
M
Myanmar's
Head of StateVisit to India
By : Dr. Sachchidanand
Bilateral agreements towardsstrong friendship
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Memorandum of Understanding
regarding Indian Grant Assistance
for Implementation of Small
Develop-ment Projects
Agreement on Cooperation in the
fields of Science and Technology
Memorandum of understanding
on Information Cooperation
Memorandum of understanding
for the Conservation and Resto-
ration of the Ananda Temple in
Bagan.
Media Reports give the impre-
ssion that Than Shwe came to India to
solicit India's support or the
forthcoming elections. This is far
from the truth as the present
Myanmar Government will do what itwants to do, no matter what the
international reactions would be.
India has a large number of exiles
from Myanmar, mostly settled in the
North East and in Delhi (waiting to go
over to Western nations as refugees).
Members of the All Burma Monks
Alliance and All Burma Students
League protested against this visit by
gathering at Juntar Mantar (a Delhi
Park), shouted pro-democracy
slogans and dispersed peacefully.
India has also been under
pressure from International Fede-
ration for Human Rights and some
western nations including US, to use
its good relations with Burma, to
convey to the military junta for
changing the course and imple-
menting some democratic reforms.
India has taken a neutral stand till
date though it has expressed that it is
looking forward to an early national
reconciliation. What the Indian
leaders told the visiting dignitary wasnot known, but the official stand was
one of neutrality.
An extract from the joint
statement issued by the Ministry of
External Affairs on 27 July 2010 given
below summarises India's reactions
on the forthcoming election in
Myanmar.
The Myanmar side informed the
Indian side about developments in
Myanmar including the groundwork
for elections scheduled towards the
end of the year. The Indian side
thanked the Myanmar side for the
detailed briefing and emphasized the
importance of comprehensively
broad-basing the national reco-
nciliation process and democratic
changes being introduced in
Myanmar.
News Analyses India is accused for
its policy on Myanmar being based on
realpolitik instead of its age old
democratic principles. India's earlier
stance of supporting the pro-
democratic forces in Myanmar had
proved to be detrimental to its
national and security interests and
hence had to adopt a more realisticand pragmatic policy of engaging the
military junta.
Most media reports indicate that
Myanmar is playing the China card
with India and the India card with
China. All one can say at this point is
that Myanmar needs India as much
as India needs Myanmar.
Media reports also harp on the
point that the results achieved in the
energy sector or on the insurgency
front from Myanmar are not
commensurate with the efforts taken
from the Indian side. While this may
be true to a certain extent, India (as
ag ainst Ch ina) had a l so i t s
shortcomings in implementing the
projects in Myanmar or in convincing
the military junta of its requirements.
The western nations have nothing
to lose by adopting a policy of
sanctions and repeated censure of
the military regime for its human
rights abuses. This policy has only
isolated Myanmar from the mainstream, much to the benefit of China.
In India's case, Myanmar is its
immediate neighbour with a 1640 km
land border and a long maritime
boundary in the Bay of Bengal.
Because of the strategic, security and
economic concerns, India has to be in
an engagement mode with Myanmar.
Just because India is the world's
largest democracy, i t i s not
incumbent on the part of India to
exert pressure on the military junta
for democratic reforms and release
of political prisoners. Even the other
nations of ASEAN and its top dialogue
partners US, EU and Japan failed to
convey their strong feelings for more
transparency and democracy in the
recent summit meetings at Hanoi.
It is incorrect to conclude, that by
hosting the Senior General Than
Shwe's visit on the eve of the general
elections in Myanmar, India has
endorsed the elections and the
procedure to be adopted for that
process. The election is an internal
issue of that country. India can at
best offer some assistance in the
procedural aspects and express itsdesire for an ear ly nat ional
reconciliation.
The elections will no doubt to be a
flawed one but yet it is better than
not doing anything at all. Any change
can only be for the better and it is
a l m o s t c e r t a i n t h a t I n d i a n
engagement with the new regime
will continue in the interest of both
the countries.
The visit has also shown India's
potential as a 'soft power' that needs
to be used more often and in a more
focused manner.
Joint StatementThis visit was a part of a series of high-
level contacts that India and
Myanmar have had over the past few
years. These include visits by Vice
Senior General Maung Aye, Vice-
Chairman of the State Peace and
Development Council of the Union of
Myanmar, in April 2008 and Shri M.
Hamid Ansari, Vice President of India,in February 2009.
In New Delhi, Senior General Than
Shwe was accorded a ceremonial
reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan on
27 July 2010. He was received by the
President of India, who hosted a
banquet in his honour.
Senior General Than Shwe had a
meeting with the Prime Minister of
India, Dr. Manmohan Singh, which
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was followed by delegation level
talks. The meetings and exchanges
were positive and marked by
cordiality on both sides.
India and Myanmar are close and
friendly neighbours linked, inter alia,
by civilizational bonds, geographical
proximity, culture, history and
religion. Apart from a boundary that
stretches over more than 1640
kilometers and borders four North-
Eastern states of India, there is a large
population of persons of Indian origin
in Myanmar. Bilateral relations are
reflective of these multifarious and
traditional linkages and the two
countries live side by side as close
neighbors based on the FivePrinciples of Peaceful Coexistence.
Recalling these shared bonds of
civilization, the Head of State of
Myanmar and the Prime Minister of
India expressed their commitment to
further strengthen and broaden the
multi-dimensional relationship
which now encompasses a range of
areas of cooperation. Enhancing
economic, social and developmental
engagement will help harness the
considerable potential in India-
Myanmar bilateral relations, which
would, in turn, contribute to the
socio-economic betterment of their
respective peoples.
Recognizing that peace and
stability in the region is essential for
development and for the well-being
of the people of their respective
countries, the two leaders agreed on
close cooperation between the
security forces of the two countries in
tackling the pernicious problem of
terrorism. They agreed that securitycooperation should be given
immediate attention since terrorists,
insurgents and criminals respect no
boundaries and undermine the social
and political fabric of a nation. Both
leaders reiterated the assurance that
the territory of either would not be
allowed for activities inimical to the
other and resolved not to allow their
respective territory to be used for
training, sanctuary and other
operations by terrorist and insurgent
organizations and their operatives.
Understanding that continued
cooperation will lead to success in
fighting the insurgency issue, the two
leaders agreed to strengthen
cooperation and collective efforts of
the two countries along the border. In
this context, the two leaders
welcomed the Home Secretary level
talks held in Nay Pyi Taw in January
2010 and the important decisions
taken in that meeting.
Both leaders expressed their
desire for greater economic
engagement. In this context, the
Prime Minister of India conveyed
India's commitment to continue withdevelopmental ass istance to
lead to upliftment of the bilateral
cooperation to a higher level.
Senior General Than Shwe and
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh
w e l c o m e d t h e c o n s i d e r a b l e
enhancement of the connectivity
between the two countries. In this
context, they welcomed the progress
made by M/s Inland Waterways
Authority of India towards impleme-
ntation of the Kaladan Multi-modal
Transit Transport Project and reite-
rated their respective Governments'
commitment to this project. In
particular, they welcomed the
finalization of the contract for port
development and Inland waterway
with M/s ESSAR. It was also agreedthat the scope of the project with
Myanmar. The Myanmar side
expressed deep appreciation for the
generous and concessionary credit
facilities given by India to finance
significant infrastructure and otherprojects. Projects that are currently
underway under such aid assistance
include railways, road and waterway
development, power and industrial
training centres, tele-commu-
nication, etc. The Indian side agreed
to consider Myanmar's request for
assistance in the three areas namely:
I T d e v e l o p m e n t , I n d u s t r i a l
development and Infrastructure
development in Myanmar which will
respect to the road component
would be revised. The road
component between Paletwa and
Myeikwa on the India border would
be executed by the MyanmarMinistry of Construction with M/s
IRCON.
The two leaders expressed
satisfaction at the construction,
maintenance and repair work by
Indian Border Roads Organization of
the Tamu-Kalaywa-Kalemyo Road
connecting Moreh in Manipur to
Myanmar and the handing over of
most of the segments of the TKK Road
to the Government of Myanmar.
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To enhance road connectivity,
especially through the State of
Mizoram, both leaders announced
the construction and revamping of
the Rhi-Tiddim road at a cost of more
than US$ 60 million to be financed
through grant assistance from India.
The Myanmar side expressed its
appreciation for this gesture.
Both leaders emphasized the
need to enhance cooperation in the
area of agriculture. The Indian side
announced a grant of US$ 10 million
for procurement of agricultural
machinery from India. The leaders
expressed the hope that this
machinery wil l help enhance
productivity in Myanmar's agricul-tural sector, which is the mainstay of
its economy. The Myanmar side also
requested for technical assistance in
manufacturing of agricultural
machinery.
The Indian side also announced a
project to set up rice silos to facilitate
disaster relief operations particularly
in the cyclone prone delta areas, with
grant in aid from India.
The Myanmar side expressed
appreciation for India's generous
ass istance in the re l ief and
rehabilitation efforts that followed
the devastating Cyclone Nargis which
hit Myanmar in May 2008. He noted
that the assistance from India, which
included dispatch of a large medical
contingent to work in cyclone
affected areas as well as providing
immediate medical and food
supplies, supply of GI sheets, 16
electricity transformers, 20 biomass
gasifiers and funds for restoration
work on the holy Shwedagon pagoda,was timely and catered to Myanmar's
urgent requirements.
Both leaders identified the power
sector as an area of growing
cooperation. In this context, the two
leaders agreed to cooperate in the
implementation of the Tamanthi and
Shwezaye projects on the Chindwin
River Basin in Myanmar. They
welcomed the involvement of M/s
NHPC in carrying out the much
required additional investigations
after the signing of the MoU on
Cooperat ion in Hydro-power
Development projects in the
Chindwin River Basin in September
2008. Subject to the findings of these
additional investigations, the two
leaders will endeavour to conclude
the Memorandum of Agreement
within a year.
The Myanmar side conveyed their
gratitude for India's line of credit of
US$ 64 million in the transmission
lines sector to be executed through
M/s. PGCIL. Both leaders also noted
the need to provide for inter-grid
connectivity between the two
countries. They agreed that the twocountries shall cooperate in this area,
including generation of electricity
from renewable sources, and, where
necessary, set up joint projects or
corporate entities for that purpose.
The Myanmar side welcomed the
interest of Indian companies in the
mining sector. They promised all
necessary assistance to enable these
c o m p a n i e s t o e x p l o r e s u c h
opportunities.
The Indian side agreed to explore
possibilities for cooperation in the
field of solar energy and wind energy
in Myanmar. They also agreed to offer
Myanmar, training in related fields.
Cooperation in the energy sector
is poised for greater growth,
especially in the area of oil and
natural gas. Both leaders emphasized
the importance they attach to energy
security which has a direct bearing on
the welfare of the peoples of the two
countries. They expressed satisfact-
ion at the ongoing bilateralcollaboration in exploration and
production in Myanmar's petroleum
sector and agreed to encourage
further investment by Indian
companies both public and private, in
this sector.
The Myanmar side welcomed the
substantial additional investment by
ONGC and GAIL for the development
in the upstream and downstream
projects of Myanmar offshore blocks
A-1 and A-3 including the natural gas
pipeline under construction at
Ramree in Myanmar.
In the field of telecom, following
the successful functioning of the
official Fibre link between India and
Myanmar via Moreh, the two leaders
agreed to upgrade the microwave
link between Moreh to Mandalay
under a line of credit of US$ 6 million
from India. Further, a new Optical
Fibre Link between Monywa to Rhi-
Zawkhathar will also be undertaken
with Indian assistance.
The Myanmar side thanked India
for its continued assistance through
renewal of the agreement to provide
IRS-P5 and Cartosat Data throughAntrix.
The two leaders agreed to
encourage collaboration between
Myanmar and India in the area of
Information and Communication
Technology.
Recalling India's earlier assistance
in supplying railway rolling stock,
machineries and equipments to
Myanmar, both leaders agreed to
further cooperation in the railway
sector. The Indian side extended a
line of credit of US$ 60 million to
procure railway equipment.
The two leaders noted with
satisfaction that the project being
undertaken by TATA Motors to set up
a heavy turbo truck plant at Magway
is proceeding well and encouraged
other Indian companies to enter into
the industrial sectors in Myanmar.
The Myanmar side assured that
current investment proposals by
private Indian companies in Myan-
mar would be actively facilitated.The two leaders welcomed the
expansion of trade and commerce
between the two countries manifest
in the increase in the volume of trade
to more than US$ 1 billion per
annum. They agreed that trade at
border trade points should be further
enhanced to boost the immense
potential that exists in bilateral trade.
This would also directly benefit the
North-East States of India.
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Referring to the existing border
trading points at Moreh - Tamu
(Manipur) and Zawkhathar-Rhi
(Mizoram) as well as the additional
point agreed to be operationalised at
Avankhug-Somra (Nagaland), the
two sides agreed to put in place the
necessary infrastructure to make
these points viable and business
friendly.
The two leaders welcomed the
establishment of direct banking links
between India and Myanmar
following the signature of the
correspondent banking relationship
agreement between United Bank of
India and Myanma Foreign Trade
Bank, Myanma Economic Bank andMyanma Investment and Comm-
ercial Bank for providing banking
arrangements relating to upgrading
of border trade to normal trade. They
encouraged the business community
to make optimal use of this
arrangement and thus enhance
direct trade transactions.
The two leaders encouraged to
conduct business meetings to be held
alternately in both countries for trade
promotion. They noted that such
measures can help build bridges at
the business level and promote
business and commercial oppor-
tunities.
In recognition of the close and
fr iendly tour ism cooperat ion
between India and Myanmar and
cooperation under the frameworks
of ASEAN+India and BIMSTEC, the
two sides agreed to further promote
tourist contacts. The Myanmar side
thanked India for the facilities and
courtesies being extended to
Myanmar pilgrims visiting India.
Both leaders welcomed the
proposal for the restoration of the
historic Ananda temple in Bagan to
be undertaken with the assistance of
the Archaeological Survey of India,
with the involvement of the Ministry
of Culture of Myanmar.
Both leaders expressed satisfa-
ction at the ongoing implementation
of the MoU for cooperation in
Buddhist studies and the relatedwork plan agreed to between the
Ministry of Religious Affairs of
Myanmar and the Nava Nalanda
Mahavihara University. Several
hundred Myanmar Buddhist scholars
and monks are currently studying in
this university in various disciplines.
The Myanmar side expressed
gratitude to India for its numerous
HRD initiatives in Myanmar which
included setting up of the following:
The Myanmar-India Centre for
English language Training;
The Myanmar-India Entrepre-
neurship Development Centre;
The India-Myanmar Centre for
Enhancement of IT Skills; and
the Industrial Training Centre in
Pakokku.
The Myanmar side also indicated
that the training offered by India
under the ITEC and TCS schemes have
been valuable for scholars and
Government officials in Myanmar.
The Indian side agreed to offer more
opportunities for higher studies and
training in Universities and training
institutions in India to scholars from
Myanmar.
The Myanmar side informed the
Indian side about developments in
Myanmar including the groundwork
for elections scheduled towards the
end of the year. The Indian side
thanked the Myanmar side for the
detailed briefing and emphasized the
importance of comprehensivelybroad-basing the national recon-
ciliation process and democratic
changes being introduced in
Myanmar.
While discussing international
developments, the two sides
emphasized the importance of an
effective multilateral system, centred
on a strong United Nations, as a key
factor in tackling global challenges. In
this context, they stressed the urgent
need to pursue the reform of the
United Nations including the Security
Council, to make it more represen-
tative, credible and effective.
The leader of Myanmar reiterated
Myanmar's support for India's bid for
the permanent membership of the
United Nations Security Council. He
also conveyed its support to India's
candidature for a non-permanent
seat in the UNSC for the term 2011-
2012.
The two leaders also emphasized
the importance of India andMyanmar to work together in the
cause of regional cooperation. The
Indian leadership offered its good
wishes to Myanmar for a successful
t e r m a s B I M S T E C C h a i r , a
responsibility that it assumed in
2009. The Indian side welcomed
participation of Myanmar at the 16th
SAARC Summit as an Observer for the
first time.
T h e t w o s i d e s e x p r e s s e d
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satisfaction at the ongoing coop-
eration between India and Myanmar
under the ASEAN-India Summit
Relations and welcomed the
implementation of the ASEAN-India
FTA. The Myanmar side appreciated
India's support for building an ASEAN
Community in 2015, and to the
Vient iane Act ion Programme
including the Initiative for ASEAN
Integration and other sub-regional
growth initiatives such as Mekong-
Ganga Cooperation Initiative and EAS
cooperation. Myanmar side recog-
nized that ASEAN-India Framework
Agreement on Comprehensive
Economic Cooperation which was
signed in 2003 has played asignificant role in strengthening the
Dialogue Partnership. Myanmar
being a natural bridge between
ASEAN and India, the Indian side
reiterated its intention of building
upon the commonalit ies and
synergies between the two countries
to advance its Look East Policy.
In the above context, both leaders
reiterated their commitment to
undertake the tri-lateral connectivity
from Moreh in India to Moe Sot in
Thailand via Myanmar. The Indian
side agreed to take up the
preparation of DPRs for roads and
causeways in Myanmar to realize this
project.
During the visit, the following
documents were signed;
(a) Treaty on Mutual Assistance
in Criminal Matters
(b) MOU regarding Indian Grant
Assistance for Impleme-
ntation of Small Develop-
mental projects.(c) MOU on Information Coope-
ration
(d) Agreement on Cooperation in
the fields of Science &
Technology
(e) MoU on Conservation and
Restorat ion of Ananda
Temple in Bagan, Myanmar
Senior General Than Shwe
thanked the President of India and
the Indian Government and people
for the warm and gracious hospitality
extended to him and the members of
his delegation during their stay in
India.
Senior General Than Shwe also
extended a warm invitation to the
President and Prime Minister of India
to visit Myanmar at a mutually
convenient time. The President and
Prime Minister of India thanked him
and accepted the invitation with
great pleasure. The dates for the visit
would be decided by mutual
consultations through diplomatic
channels.
Indo-Myanmar Relations:
An OverviewIntroduction
The Indo-Myanmar relations since
1948 (when Myanmar became
independent) can be considered as
cordial and friendly (from 1948 to
1962), frozen or strained (from 1962
to 1988) and flourishing from 1988 till
date. The reasons for these radical
changes in the ties can be attributed
to both Myanmar for its isolationist
policy adopted by the military regime
and to India for its shift from an
idealist or moralistic to realistic or
pragmatic policy adopted. India's
Look-East policy has been the main
driving force for improvement in the
bilateral relations.
Strategic Importance
The reasons for the strategic
importance of Myanmar to India are:
Myanmar is located at the tri
junction of East Asia, South Asia
and South East Asia.
Myanmar is the second largest ofIndia's neighbours and the largest
on the eastern flank.
Myanmar provides the Eastern
littoral of the Bay of Bengal. An
unfriendly Myanmar hosting
foreign naval presence would
pose a threat to Indian security.
Myanmar has a big border with
China in the north contiguous
with the Sino-Indian disputed
b o r d e r w h i c h h a s m a n y
implications.
India has both a land border (1640
km) and a maritime boundary
with Myanmar in the Bay of
Bengal. Four Indian states
(Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland,
Manipur and Mizoram) border
Myanmar (Kachin & Chin states
and Sagaing Division)
China can gain access to Indian
Ocean through Myanmar
Economic Importance
Myanmar is India's gateway to ASEAN
as it is the only country of this
grouping which has a land and
maritime boundary with India. With
India becoming a summit levelpartner of ASEAN and a member of
the East Asia Summit, improved
relations with Myanmar will be
beneficial in many respects. Besides
Myanmar and India are members of
some sub regional groupings such as
the BIMST-EC and the Mekong Ganga
Cooperation.
China has raised its economic
profile in SE Asia, particularly in
Myanmar despite the sanctions
imposed by the west. India should
not be left behind especially in view
of the large oil and gas resources
available in Myanmar and much
needed by India.
Security Considerations
The major security considerations
are:
Insurgency in the North Eastern
States of India Some of the
insurgent groups have estab-
lished camps in Myanmar and
operating from Myanmareseterritory
Smuggling of arms (by both land
and sea)
Drug trafficking and narco-
terrorism.
Illegal immigration from Yunnan
into Northern Myanmar and
association of Chinese workers in
road construction activities
Bilateral Relations
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!948-1962. Relations were friendly
and cordial during the days of Prime
Minister Nehru and Prime Minister U
Nu. India provided economic and
military assistance .Both were
members of the Non Aligned
Movement.
1962-1988 Relations virtually
froze with the military rule under Ne
win adopting an isolationist policy.
Domestic policies including the
expulsion of ethnic Indians soured
the relations. Myanmar's anti Soviet
stance strained relations with India
being pro-Soviet at that time.
Myanmar refused to become a
member of the Commonwealth.
Indian Consulate in Mandalay had tobe closed. Myanmar withdrew from
NAM in 1979.
1988-Till date. As a result of the
sympathy of the Indian government
to the pro democracy movement
which started in 1988, the relations
were strained. India had even
accommodated a large number of
pro democracy refugees in camps in
NE India. All India Radio programmes
were criticising the military regime.
In 1993 India reversed its stance with
a more realistic and pragmatic policy
and started engaging the military
regime. Since then the relations have
been growing steadily save for a
minor hiccup in 1995 when Aung San
Suu Kyi was awarded the Nehru
Peace Price for International
Understanding. The visit of Maung
Aye, Vice Chairman SPDC, the second
most powerful leader in the junta, in
November 2000, helped the turn
round in the relations. There has
been all round progress in political,economic and military relations as
well as cooperation in technology,
HRD, infrastructure, education,
space, health and other fields.
Bilateral TradeBilateral Trade has expanded
significantly from US $ 12.4 million in
1980-81 to US $ 425 million in 2004-
05. India's imports from Myanmar
are primarily agricultural and forest
based products (especially beans and
pulses) and main exports to
Myanmar are primary and semi
finished steel and pharmaceuticals.
The balance of trade is heavily in
favour of Myanmar.
The Confederation of Indian Industry
(CII) constituted the India-Myanmar
Joint Task Force during the Made in
India show organized by the CII in
Yangon in February 2004. It has met
often both in India and Myanmar and
has helped in giving a big fillip to the
bilateral trade.
The Confederation of Indian
Industry (CII) has entered into a
Memorandum of Understanding
with the Union of MyanmarF e d e r a t i o n o f C h a m b e r s o f
Commerce and Industry (UMFCCI)
and the Myanmar Computer
Federation. Government of India has
extended a number of general and
project specific credit lines to
Myanmar in the last few years for
improvement of the trade relations.
Border TradeThe first Border Trade Agreement
was signed in Delhi in January 1994
and was implemented in April 1995
with the opening of a cross border
point between Moreh (Manipur,
India) and Tamu (Sagaing Division,
Myanmar). Subsequently both
governments had agreed to open
four check posts which inclue
Pangsau pass, Paletwa, Lungwa-
Yanyong and Pangsha-Pangnyo
between the nations. Opening of
border posts will help in checking the
border trade and making it official,
curb the illegal trade of goods andmonitor the activities of the
insurgent groups between India and
Myanmar.
The border trade which had a spurt in
the beginning with export of Indian
goods worth Rupees 31 crores and
imports from Myanmar woth 15
crores in 1996-97 had declined to a
level of Rupees 5 crores in export and
import by 2004-05 according to
official statistics.
The reasons for decline in the border
trade are mainly due to a) rise of
popularity of commodities imported
from third countries by Myanmar
(primarily China) which find their way
i n t o I n d i a a n d b ) f r e q u e n t
intimidation and monetary demands
by numerous insurgent groups
operating in border areas.
Trans border trade has failed to
provide any benefit to local people
and there are procedural hiccups for
obtaining licenses as well.
Border ManagementIndia and Myanmar have regular
border post meetings at Moreh-
Tamu. It has been agreed to have four
more border posts to facilitate armymeetings. They are at Lungwa (Mon
d i s t r i c t - N a g a l a n d ) , B i h a n g
(Churchandpur district-Manipur) and
at Sapi and Zokawathar (Mizoram). A
400 km border with Myanmar is
already fenced and is being improved
by raising the height. A stretch of 14
km near the international boundary
at Moreh has also been planned to be
fenced. The fencing is important in
view of the rampant narcotic trade
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along the Indo-Myanmar border.
Infrastructure Projects inMyanmar
The 160 Km I nd ia- Myanmar
Friendship road on Burmese territory
from Tamu to Kalemyo to Kalewa was
b u i l t b y t h e B o r d e r R o a d s
Organisation and completed in 2001.
It will also be maintained by India up
to March 2008.
India is involved in the India-
Myanmar - Thai land Tr i lat e r a l
such as the Yangon-Mandalay sector
as well as connecting them to rail
links on the Indian side.
A media report of June 2006 also
indicates that the Indian Commerce
Ministry has embarked upon an
ambitious project to develop Sittwe
port in Myanmar and to open up a sea
route connecting it to Mizoram in
North East India. For this purpose,
the navigable river Kaladon in
Mizoram is to be developed.
Oil and GasMyanmar has reportedly world's
tenth biggest gas reserves estimated
to be more than 90 trillion cubic feet.
India has evinced keen interest toprocure gas from Myanmar. ONGC
Videsh Limited (OVL) and Gas
Authority of India Limited (GAIL) hold
30 % stakes in the exploration and
production of gas in Myanmar's A1
and A3 off shore blocks located in
Sittwe Area of Arakan State.
The earlier proposal to bring the
gas in Myanmar by a pipeline through
Bangladesh to India had to be
dropped because of unreasonable
demands from Bangladesh. The
latest proposal is to bring the gas
through a 1575 Km pipeline (longer
than the Bangladesh route) from
Sittwe port in Myanmar through
Aizwal Silchar-Guahawti-Siliguri to
Gaya linking it to Haldia-Jagadishpur
oil pipeline in Gaya (Bihar).
India has even offered to buy
Myanmar gas and import it through
ship till the pipeline is laid.
Military to Military Contacts
As early as in 1995 India andMyanmar armies had conducted a
joint military operation (called
Golden Bird) against some North
Eastern insurgent groups (ULFA,
NSCN, PLA, PLF& KNA) though this
operation was abhorted after Aung
San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nehru
Peace prize for International
Understanding. Myanmar resumed
its military operations against the
insurgents from Feb 2000 to May
2001.
In January 2000, the Chief of Army
Highway Project.
India has extended project
specific credit lines for up gradation
of Yangon-Mandalay Trunk line, an
optical fibre link between Moreh andMandalay and ADSL systems in
Yangon & Mandalay.
Other projects at various stages of
completion include construction/
upgradation of Rhi-Tidim and Rhi-
Falam road sections in Myanmar, the
Kaladan Multimodal Transport
project and the Tamanthi Hydro
Electric power project.
India has also offered to help
Myanmar in improving its rail links
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cooperation in Communications, IT
and services; Agreement on
extension of a credit line of US $
25mil l ion to Government of Myanmar; Agreement on Visa
exemption for Official and Diplomatic
passport holders and an Mou
between HRD Ministry of India and
Education Ministry of Myanmar.
During 2004 eight agreements
/MoUs were concluded between
India and Myanmar. Of these the
notable ones were the MoU on the
cooperation of Non-traditional
Security Issues and the MoU on the
Tamanthi Hydro Electric Power
Project.In 2005 a MoU on Energy
Cooperation was signed.
In 2006, MoUs on Cooperation in
the Petroleum Sector, Cooperation in
Buddhist Studies and a Framework
Agreement for mutual Cooperation
in the field of Remote Sensing were
signed.
Cooperation between India and
Mynmar in Regional/Sub-Regional
Context.
ASEAN: Myanmar became amember of ASEAN in 1997. As the
only ASEAN country which shares a
land and maritime boundary with
India, Myanmar is the gateway to
ASEAN. The Ministry Of External
Affairs has indicated that a few
proposals for cooperation are under
discussion with Myanmar within the
f r a m e w o r k o f A S E A N ' s I A I
Progamme. Of these the Myanmar-
India Entrepreneurship Development
Centre is expected to be launched
soon.
Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi
Sectoral Technical and EconomicCooperation (BIMSTEC): Myanmar
became a member of BIMSTEC in
1997. BIMSTEC has identified six
sectors of cooperation, for each of
which a lead country has been
designated. Myanmar is the lead
country for the energy sector.
Myanmar trades mostly with
Thailand and India in the BIMSTEC
region. Myanmar's major exports to
India are agricultural products like
beans, pulses, and maize and forest
p r o d u c t s s u c h a s t e a k a n dhardwoods. Its imports are chemical
products, pharmaceuticals, electrical
appliances and transport equipment.
Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC):
Myanmar is a member of the MGC
since its inception in 2000. MGC is an
initiative by six countries India and
five ASEAN countries namely
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand
and Vietnam for cooperation in the
fields of tourism, education, culture,
transport and communication.Forum on Regional Economic
Cooperation among Bangladesh-
China-India-Myanmar (BCIM): The
BCIM initiative has attracted much
attention in India, as it has the
potential to bring three of India's
neighbours closer to a joint pursuit of
common prosperity through the
increasing use of mechanisms of
regional integration. The sixth forum
of the BCIM was held at Delhi in
March 2006.
The China Factor
China and Myanmar have been closeallies since the time PRC came into
being. For Myanmar, China's
substantial economic, military and
political support is vital in view of the
sanctions imposed by the west and
the mounting pressure by the regi-
onal and international forum.
China is the major supplier of
military hardware to Myanmar.
China's military sales to Myanmar
include jet fighters, armoured
vehicles and naval vessels valued at
around $ 2 billion. China is helpingMyanmar to modernize its naval
bases in Hiangyyi, Coco, Akyab,
Z a d e t k y i K y u n , M e r g u i a n d
Khankphyu. China has a maritime
reconnaissance and electronic
intelligence station in Coco islands
and is building a base at this location.
The ultimate aim is to secure a
corridor to the Indian Ocean from
South China via Myanmar. Thanks to
China, the Myanmar army is the
second largest in South East Asia(after Vietnam) and it has expanded
from 180000 men to more than
450000.
The Chinese have built an all
weather road from Kunming in
Southern China to Mandalay in
Central Myanmar.
In the year 2004, it gave Myanmar
$ 200 million in aid. The trade
between the two countries has more
than doubled in five years to $ 1.1
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billion in 2004 as per the Chinese
Government statistics. China is
officially Myanmar's third largest
trading partner after Singapore and
Thailand not taking into account the
informal border trade.According to a report in Time
(January 30, 2006), more than $ 400
million in trade funnels through the
Jiegao Border Trade Economic Zone
each year. China exports household
appliances, chemicals and medicines
and Burma ships back jade, sea food
and timber.
India is concerned with China's
incr e as ing e ng ag e me nt w i t h
Myanmar's military junta, especially
in improving the naval facilitiesincluding the setting up of four
electronic listening posts along the
Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea.
Indian Foreign Secretary (prior to the
recent visit of the Indian President) in
reply to a question on India-China
rivalry replied that It is not
appropriate to look for India-China
rivalry at every nook and corner of
Asia. The India-Myanmar relations
stand on their own.
While India's concerns are
understandable, Myanmar musthave also realised that it is being
stifled by China and must look for an
alternative in India particularly in
view of India's rising economic
potential and mutual strategic and
security interests.
ConclusionThe relations between India and
Myanmar have been chequered with
numerous ups and downs. However
since the visit of Senior General Than
Shwe in October 2004, the relations
have been on the upswing gaining
from strength to strength every year.
India's long term interests may be
better served by a democratic regimein Myanmar but the present
approach is to help Myanmar in
building its democratic institutions
without embarrassing or isolating the
junta but through official and
diplomatic channels.
The strategic and security considera-
tions outweigh India's concern for
democracy in Myanmar.
Despite India's impro-ving relations
with China, the China factor does
have an impact on India's relationswith Myanmar. However it is also in
Myanmar's interests to have an
alternative source in India for its
economic betterment.
It has been proved beyond doubt that
economic sanctions have not
deterred the military regime in
pur su ing i t s ag e nda. He nce
diplomatic persuasion and economic
a id l ink e d w i t h pr og r e ss in
democratic reforms may be a viable
solution. Hence India is perhaps on
the right path in engaging the military junta in a constructive manner but
should be watchful of the efforts of
the other nations in the region to
introduce a semblance of democracy
in Myanmar.
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xternal Affairs Minister Shri
S.M. Krishna paid an official
visit to the Republic of
Mauritius from July 2 - 4, 2010. He
was accompanied by Shri Vivek Katju,
Secretary (West) and other senior
officials of the Ministry of External
Affairs. The visit was a part of the
regular ongoing high-level bilateral
exchanges between India andMauritius. This was also EAM's first
visit to Africa.
During his visit, EAM called on
President Sir Anerood Jugnauth and
Prime Minister Dr. Navinchandra
Ramgoolam. He met Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister of Energy and
Public Utilities Dr. Ahmed Rashid
Beebeejaun, Vice Prime Minister and
Minister of Finance and Economic
Development Mr. Pravind Kumar
Jugnauth. EAM also met his
counterpart Dr. Arvin Boolell,
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional
Integration and International Trade
and discussed issues of mutual
interest. EAM laid a wreath at the
Samadhi of the Father of the
Mauritian Nation Sir Seewoosagur
Ramgoolam.
EAMs discussions with his inter-locutors covered the entire canvass
of bilateral cooperation between
India and Mauritius and touched
upon regional and international
issues of mutual interest and
concern. The views of the two sides
on all these subjects were identical.
EAM and Prime Minister Navin
Ramgoolam recalled the nature of
the special relationship which
bound the two countries together.
EAM remarked that the cooperation
between India and Mauritius is
compr e he ns ive and mul t id i -
mensional. He thanked Mauritius for
E
By : Avadhesh Kumar Pandey
India- Mauritius RelationsVisit of External Affairs Minister to Mauritius
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its consistent support to India's
candidature to the UN Security
Council as well as its support to
India's candidature for the non-
permanent seat of the UNSC for
2011-12. EAM also noted that
Mauritius had stood with India all
along on issues relating to terrorism
and had been unwavering and
unequivocal in condemning the
26/11 Mumbai attack. Mauritian
leaders expressed their gratitude for
India's consistent support at all times
of need and otherwise and noted
India's continued assistance to
Mauritius in various sectors. Prime
Minister Navin Ramgoolam and
Foreign Minister Arvin Boolellexpressed their satisfaction over the
technical assistance received from
India in anti-piracy patrolling and EEZ
Surveillance of Mauritian waters to
improve security in this region of the
Indian Ocean.
The following documents were
signed during the visit:
(i) Memorandum of Understan-
ding on the supply of an
Offshore Patrol Vessel;
(ii) Agreement on Early Warning of
Coastal Hazards between Indian
National Centre for Ocean
Information Services (INCOIS)
and The Meteorological Servic-
es, Mauritius;
(iii) Programme of Cultural Coo-
peration between India and
Mauritius for 2010-2013;
(iv) Agreement between Standar-
disation, Testing and Quality
Control Directorate (STQC),
Department of Information
Technology, Govt. of India andthe National Computer Board,
Government of Mauritius;
(v) Agreement between Indian
Council for Cultural Relations
(ICCR) and Mahatma Gandhi
Institute (MGI), Mauritius on
the establishment of a Visiting
Chair of Sanskrit and Indian
Philosophy at MGI.
EAM invited the Minister of
Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration
and International Trade of Mauritius
Dr. Arvin Boolell to pay a visit to India.
EAM also invited Vice Prime Minister
and Minister of Finance and
Economic Development Mr. Pravind
Kumar Jugnauth to visit India for the
11th Session of the India-Mauritius
Joint Commission on Economic,
Technical and Cultural Cooperation;
EAM and Vice Prime Minister
J ug naut h co- Chai r t he J o int
Commission.
Relations between India and
Mauritius in the political, economic
and cultural fields are comprehensive
and extensive. EAM's visit provided
yet another opportunity for further
consolidation and development ofthe traditional, time-tested and
historical relations between India
and Mauritius.
History of Bilateral Relations :
Mauritius maintained contacts with
India through successive Dutch,
French and British occupation. The
French colony of Pondicherry played
an important role in the development
of Mauritius during the French
occupation by providing skilled
workforce for various projects in
Mauritius. From the 1820s, Indian
workers started coming into
Maurit ius to work on sugar
plantations. From 1834 when slavery
was abolished by the British
Parliament, large numbers of Indian
workers began to be brought into
Mauritius as indentured labourers.
The ship 'Atlas', which carried the
first batch of Indian indentured
labourers, reached Mauritius on
November 2, 1834. This day is now
observed in Mauritius as 'AapravasiDay', a national holiday.
Over the following decades, the
number of Indian immigrants grew to
a level where they came to constitute
a majority of the population. In all,
about ha l f a mi l l ion I nd ian
indentured labourers are estimated
to have been brought into Mauritius
between 1834 and the early decades
of the 20th century, out of whom
about two-thirds settled perman-
ently in Mauritius.
Diplomatic relations between
India and Mauritius were established
in 1948.
Political RelationsMauritius has consistently extended
its support for India's candidature for
a permanent seat in the UN Security
Council. It has stated this in public
forum including the United Nations
General Assembly.
Mauritius supports initiatives, both
at regional and international levels,
against terrorism and highlighted the
need for concerted international
action to fight terrorism. Mauritius
has enacted domestic legislationagainst terrorism. During the visit of
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh
to Mauritius in March-April 2005, an
Agreement for setting up of a Joint
Working Group (JWG) on Combating
International Terrorism and Related
Matters was signed between India
and Mauritius. Pursuant to the
Agreement, two meetings of the JWG
have been held in New Delhi in
August 2006 and Port Louis in
February 2008. The third Meeting is
expected to be held in New Delhi in
the second half of 2009.
In the JWG meetings, both sides
have agreed for closer cooperation in
the areas of combating terrorism,
including financing of terrorism. India
and Mauritius have agreed to share
information on terrorism and Drug
trafficking, enhance preparedness of
the Mauritian Police Force to deal
with terrorist attacks and strengthen
cooperation in the field of maritime
security.
Defence CooperationUnder the ITEC programme, about
30-45 personnel from the Mauritian
Police Force are trained annually in
Indian Defence Training Establish-
ments.
Visit of Indian Naval Ships to
Mauritius forms part of the regular
interaction between the defence
forces of the two countries. Recent
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visits of Indian Navy ships to
Mauritius include INS 'Mumbai' and
INS 'Karmuk' in April 2008. INS Ship
'Tir', INS 'Krishna' and ICGS 'Vivek'visited Mauritius in September 2008.
A Memorandum of Understanding in
the field of Hydrography between
India and Mauritius was signed
during the visit of the Mauritian
Prime Minister to India in October
2005. Under the MOU, hydrographic
surveys have been undertaken by
Indian Naval Survey Ships in 2006,
2007, 2008 and 2009. Surveys
undertaken include the waters
around Port Louis Harbour, Agalega
Islands, Port Mathurin, St. Brandon,
Saya de Malha Banks, Black River Bay,
Tamarin Bay, Grand Bay and Riviredes Galets. A Protocol on the Sale of
Navigational Charts was signed in
April 2009.
Economic and Commercial relations
The bilateral Joint Commission on
Economic, Technical and Cultural
Cooperation between India and
Mauritius has so far held ten
meetings. The tenth JMC Meeting
held in Port Louis on December 18,
2007 was co-chaired by the then
External Affairs Minister, Shri Pranab
Mukherjee and the Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister of Finance and
Economic Development of Mauritius,Dr. Rama Krishna Sithanen. In his
opening statement, the External
Affairs Minister noted that the
purpose of his visit was to strengthen
cooperation between the two
countries and build on the new
beginnings that have been made in
recent years.
He also said that India wished to add
substance to this partnership and
provide the foundation for its
Name of the
MOU/Agreement
Synopsis of the
MoU/AgreementSigned by
MOU between the Government of theRepublic of India and the Government of
the Republic of Mauritius for providing of
one Offshore Patrol Vessel
MOU on Cooperation for Early Warning
Arrangement for Coastal Hazards Between
The Indian National Centre for Ocean
Services (INCOIS), Government of the
Republic of India and The Meteorological
Services, Government of the Republic of
Mauritius
Programme for Cultural Cooperation
between the Government of the Republic
of India and the Government of the
Republic of Mauritius for the years 2010 -
2013
MOU between Standardisation, Testing
and Quality Certif ication (STQC),
Department of Information Technology,
Republic of India and National ComputerBoard (NCB) of the Republic of Mauritius
MOU between the Indian Council for
Cultural Relations (ICCR) and the Mahatma
Gandhi Institute (MGI) in consideration of
Visiting Chair of Sanskrit and Indian
Philosophy at MGI, Moka
The Government of India has decided toprovide one time Grant of US$ 10 million
and Line of Credit of US$ 48.5 million
extended through the EXIM Bank of India
to the Government of Mauritius for the
supply of one Offshore Patrol Vessel,
manufactured by Garden Reach Ship-
builders & Engineers Ltd. (GRSE), Kolkata,
India to assist the Government of
Mauritius in strengthening its maritime
capabilities.
To establish cooperative linkages for
Tsunami Early Warning arrangements,
preparedness, and mitigation of tsunami
hazards and facilitate real-time monitoring
data from all sea-level and earthquake
monitoring stations and other observation
systems of the Meteorological Services
To strengthen and reinforce cultural
linkages and enhance people to people
interactions by organizing exhibitions,
holding film festivals and book fairs,
exchanging cultural troupes, encouraging
youth exchange programmes, providing
scholarships, etc.
To promote closer co-operation and
exchange of information pertaining to the
Information Security and IT standards and
collaborate on best practices in the field ofInformation Security Management
Systems; disaster recovery planning and IT
Service management.
To establish a Visiting Chair of Sanskrit and
Indian Philosophy at the School of
Indological Studies, MGI. The Chair will be
responsible to teach Sanskrit and Indian
Philosophy at B.A./M.A./M.Phil. levels at
MGI.
India: H.E. Shri M. Ganapathi, HighCommissioner of India
Mauritius: Mrs. K.O. Fong Weng-Poorun,
Permanent Secretary, Prime Minister's
Office.
India: H.E. Shri M. Ganapathi, High
Commissioner of India
Mauritius : Mr. Dunputh Balraj Hari-
krishna, Acting Director of the Meteoro-
logical Services.
India: H.E. Shri M. Ganapathi, High
Commissioner of India
Mauritius: H.E. Mr. J.D. Phokeer,
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Arts and
Culture
India: H.E. Shri M. Ganapathi, High
Commissioner of India
Mauritius: Mr. S. Ramgolam, Chairman,
National Computer Board of the Republicof Mauritius
India: H.E. Shri M. Ganapathi, High
Commissioner of India
Mauritius: Mrs. V.D. Koonjal, Director
(MGI) & Officer-in- Charge (MGI & RTI)
List of Agreements/MoUs signed during the visit of Minister of External Affairs
Shri S.M. Krishna to the Republic of Mauritius 03/07/2010
1.
S.No.
2.
3.
4.
5.
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sustained and rapid development
taking into account the numerous
complementarities that the two
countries shared. The agreed
minutes of the meeting inter alia
covered both the traditional areas of
cooperation between the two
countries including cooperation in
the political and security field,
economic, technical and commercial
cooperation, and cultural coo-
peration, as well as new areas such as
hydrography, cooperation in explo-
ration and exploitation of hydro-
carbon in the Mauritian EEZ, bio-
technology, etc.
During the visit of the then Prime
Minister of Mauritius, Paul RaymondBrenger from November 19-24,
2003, it was decided to set up a Joint
Study Group (JSG) to chart out
modalit ies for establishing a
Comprehensive Economic Cooper-
ation and Partnership Agreement
(CECPA) between the two countries.
The JSG was launched at the ninth
session of the India-Mauritius Joint
Commission held on January 8, 2004
in New Delhi. The JSG report was
formally presented to the two Prime
Ministers during the State visit of
Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh
to Mauritius in March-April 2005.
During the visit, it was decided to set
up an Empowered Committee to
concretise the recommendations of
the JSG within a 12-month time
frame. On the Indian side, the
Empowered Committee is led by the
Ministry of Commerce & Industry.
India was the largest exporter of
goods and services to Mauritius in
2007 and 2008 (Jan-Sept.). As perofficial Mauritius estimates, Indian
exports to Mauritius during the
period January - December 2008
were MRs. 31.7 billion.
Main items of exports were
petroleum products, yarn, woven
fabrics, made up textile, bovine meat,
fish, r ice, organic chemicals,
pharmaceuticals, plastic, printed
books & newspapers, footwear,
ceramic products, glass & glassware,
aluminium, toys, etc.
Main items of import into India
were non-industrial Diamonds, Scrap
metal, Multiple Yarn, Glycerin, PVC
products.
An MOU for cooperation between
State Trading Corporations of India
and Mauritius was signed in July
2005.
A three-year Agreement wassigned between the Mangalore
Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd
(MRPL) and the State Trading
Corporation of Mauritius in July 2007
for supply of al l petroleum
requirements of Mauritius. SBI
Mauritius has extended a credit line
to the STC of Mauritius for purchase
of petroleum.
Air Mauritius operates flights to
M u m b a i , N e w D e l h i a n d
Chennai/Bengaluru on a code-
sharing arrangement with Air India.
The CMD of Air India is represented
on the Board of Air Mauritius.
Mauritius accorded 'fifth freedom'
rights to Air India in 2004 on the
South Africa - India route.
There are shipping links between
India and Mauritius. The Delmas
Shipping Company provides a direct
shipping route between Mumbai and
Port Louis. In addition, shipping
routes are provided by major
shipping companies, connectingMumbai to Port Louis through Oman.
Several Indian public enterprises
are functioning in Mauritius since the
early 1960s. Bank of Baroda, Life
Insurance Corporation, and the New
India Assurance were the first toestablish operations followed by
other PSUs including India Handloom
H o u s e , T e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n s
Consultant India Ltd., Indian Oil
(Mauritius) Limited, Mahanagar
Telephone (Mauritius) Ltd., State
Bank of India Mauritius Limited.
Over the past decades, Indian-
assisted projects in Mauritius include
the Mahatma Gandhi Institute,
Upadhyaya Tr a in ing Ce nt r e ,
J a w a h a r l a l N e h r u H o s p i t a l ,
Subramania Bharati Eye Centre, etc.
Projects establ ished through
a s s i s t a n c e p r o v i d e d b y t h e
Government of India include the
Rajiv Gandhi Science Centre, the
Rabindranath Tagore Institute, the
Cybertower at Ebene and the Swami
V i v e k a n a n d a I n t e r n a t i o n a l
Conference Centre.
Information Technology has
emerged as the most prominent area
of technical cooperation for the
f u t u r e . A n A g r e e m e n t f o rcooperation between the two
countries in the IT sector was signed
in 2000. Prominent Indian IT
Bilateral trade between India and Mauritius over the last ten years is indicated below :
India Exports and Imports From Mauritius
Year 1998-99 1999-00 2000-01 2001-02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08
Exports 161 171 200 163 164 203 258 199 737 1086
Imports 2.01 3.93 6.17 3.26 16.13 7.54 7.19 7.33 14.51 10.07
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companies, such as INFOSYS, Hinduja
TMT, etc., have established operati-
ons in Mauritius. Some other Indian
IT companies also have theirpresence in Mauritius.
Indian tourist arrivals in Mauritius
increased from 37,934 in 2006 to
43,624 in 2007 and 43,911 in
2008.
Educational, ITEC andTechnical Cooperation
Annually, 98 scholarships are
extended to Mauritian students
for higher education in India.
Approximately 200 Mauritian
students enrol every year inIndian universities on a self-
financing basis. According to the
Government of Mauritius, at the
end of 2006, 1,302 Mauritian
students were studying in Indian
tertiary education institutions -
the fourth highest destination for
Mauritian students studying
overseas.
Under the Indian Technical and
Economic Cooperation (ITEC)
programme, 30 to 40 civilian
officials from the Government of
Mauritius undergo training inIndian institutions every year.
Fol lowing the India-Afr ica
Summit, this number has been
increased to 80 slots.
A bilateral agreement provides for
deputation of up to 20 ITEC experts
from India to Mauritius.
Cultural RelationsActive cultural exchanges with
Mauritius take place both under
officially sponsored programmes and
through a wide non-official networkof Indo-Mauritian socio-cultural