The Sinicization of Myanmar and Its Implications for India

Abstract

The People’s Republic of China (PRC) has clearly made it a priority to expand its access and operational reach to the Pacific and Indian oceans in order to sustain its momentous rise to power, an endeavor that has been greatly stimulated since the collapse of the former Soviet Union. While the rest of the world has been either trying to engage or contain China`s superpower ambitions, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) of Myanmar has surpassed all precedent in allowing Beijing to use this once nonaligned country as the PRC`s most reliable ally in its grand designs for the future. The PRC`s entrenchment in every aspect of Myanmar life and politics in the 1990s has led China-watchers to describe Myanmar as the PRC`s most crucial potential strategic outpost, rivaling even its ”special relationship” with Pakistan. Considering the contentious historical legacies of most of these Asian countries, this has obvious implications for the peace and security of India as well as countries both in South and Southeast Asia.