the Malacca Strait, one of the world's busiest shipping lanes, are strategically and commercially important.
Endowed with rich natural resources, which include natural gas, oil, timber, and gems, Myanmar is also attracting foreign capital in search of cheap labour. The cost of manufacturing labour in Yangon, its largest city, is only one-eighth of that in Beijing and one-quarter of that in Bangkok.
India laid the foundation in December 2010 for the construction of port and waterway terminal of a Myanmar-India Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project in Sittway (Akyab) township of western Myanmar's Rakhine (Arakan) state. The Kaladan River project is expected to be completed by 2013.
High-level visits have their own dynamics and impact in strengthening relations between countries. Suu Kyi's trip is expected to facilitate future engagement between India and Myanmar. Diplomatic observers say the country is gradually breaking free of the "Chinese grip."
The next parliamentary election in Myanmar will take place in 2015 and Suu Kyi 's party will contest the election. If she wins the election, she could be the president of Myanmar, a position which President Thein Sein agreed to accept if voted to power.
The writer is a former Bangladesh Ambassador to the UN, Geneva.