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Myanmar is a key land bridge between South Asia and the Southeast Asian regions, which have emerged as the new hotspot for world economy.
The economies of South Asia and Southeast Asia are growing and forging closer ties at a time when global situation remains turbulent due to conflicts in Ukraine and Middle East.
Actually after the 2007-2009 global financial crisis, it became amply clear that Asian economies should concentrate on domestic and regional demand to secure sustainable and inclusive growth.
At the same time, it also became evident that enhancing connectivity between these two vital regions was a must.
According to some statistics, South Asia and Southeast Asia cross-regional trade has increased 23 times from $4 billion to $90 billion in 12 years since 1990.
It was also found that Southeast Asia's share of South Asian trade rose from 6 per cent to only 10 per cent whereas South Asia's share of Southeast Asian trade doubled from about 2 per cent to 4 per cent.
The sharing of cross-regional investment and cross-regional financial flows was also low as Southeast Asia only accounted for 15 per cent of total South Asian foreign direct investment (FDI) outflows during 2009-2013 and South Asia only received 9 per cent of Southeast Asian FDI.
Hence, experts have identified tremendous potential for shared growth in these two regions, which can pave the way for greater integration through trade, investment, and financial flows.
India, the biggest economy in South Asia, is also focusing on 'Look East Policy' with the objective of enhancing cross-border trade and infrastructure investments.
Bangladesh has also initiated moves to deepen its connectivity with South East Asian countries after 90s.
Due to its geographical position, Myanmar's role is seen in ensuring improved physical connectivity and associated soft infrastructure, which are needed to foster closer economic ties between South Asia and Southeast Asia.
Myanmar is strategically located and rich in natural resources, including arable land, forests, minerals, natural gas, and freshwater and marine resources. The country with covers an area of 676,577 square kilometers is the largest in Southeast Asia.
The development of Myanmar's oil and gas reserves since the early 1990s has resulted in rapidly increasing petroleum exports. But the ongoing civil war in Myanmar emerged as a game spoiler for bridging the two regions.
Progress regarding the regional highway connecting South Asian countries like India, Bangladesh with South East Asian countries has come to a standstill as the entire Myanmar has now turned into a battlefield.
Without ending this war in Myanmar, nothing can be taken forward in terms of physical connectivity between the two regions.
Surely, it now requires intervention from the international community to ensure permanent peace in this country.
Myanmar's Asian neighbours should take proactive role in ending conflicts in Myanmar considering the importance of establishing physical connectivity between the two regions.