India is a nation of contradictions.

For a country that has at least cordial, if not impeccable relations with most nations in the world (because of its growing economic and political clout, its traditional role as the advocate of the Third World, and its being the worlds largest democracy, among other reasons), Indias relations with its neighbours have been strangely poor. Pakistan and China are often portrayed as being unrelenting rivals of India; Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka often prop up in the side pages of the Times of India with reports of their governments refusing to bend under hegemonic Indian pressure. What struck me as soon as my Editor-in-chief gave me this article to write was the odd lack of interest in Burma that both the Indian media and most Indians have. Burma, now Myanmar, is being hailed by many political analysts and commentators as being the new focal point for Sino-Indian relations. Although the autocratic Myanmar government is often thought of as being politically closer to China, Indias growing investments in infrastructure development and the financial sector are bringing the regime closer to this side of the border. India has granted unproportionate amounts of aid to the Burmese regime over the years. China plans to invest nearly 30 billion dollars in the country over the next few years. Indeed, Myanmar is fast emerging as the new crossroads of Asia the central point of the continent has moved further east from Afghanistan. But the fundamental question that arises is that who will benefit from a possible Burmese transition to democracy. The most prominent Burmese symbol of resistance, Aung San Suu Kyi, has made great strides in the recent past. Her party was allowed to participate in the elections for some forty odd seats in the Myanmar Parliament (a body of some seven hundred representatives) and it clearly swept the polls. Her much publicised world tour, which is ongoing as I write this article, is also full of symbolism and drama. United States Senator John McCain actually wept when he met Ms. Kyi; and Myanmar President Thein Sein repeatedly praised Ms. Kyi for being the champion of democracy ( a bit contradictory, coming from an dictatorial leader, dont you think?). Burma is headed for democratic elections in 2015 - but I can bet you the three years in the run up to the elections are going to be very long indeed! All this brings me back to the initial question I posed - who will gain, if Burma becomes a democracy? One country that will undoubtedly gain will be India. A democratically elected government is likely to move towards the only stable democracy in the region, which also happens to be the worlds largest. Indian investments in Burma already amount to a few billion dollars and there is potential for much more. Foreign Policy magazine and The Jakarta Post both think, however, that a democratically elected Myanmar will grow closer to the red dragon up north. This maybe because a newly voted administration would not necessarily want a reduction in already hugely benefiting Chinese investment and the anticipated opening up of the Burmese economy would likely bring in more business from Chinese provinces of Yunan and Guangxi. The Americans would also get an opportunity to invest in this potential Asian tiger with democracy, the United States would likely forget all human rights violations, media censorship and house arrests and get down to business. But all these are baseless predictions. Well have to keep our fingers crossed and wait until 2015 to see what happens.