Brunei, a tiny but comparatively new nation, holds a wealth of data and a prolonged record of landmarks. From the ruler’s lengthy and elaborate official identify—Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien—to his declare as one of many wealthiest rulers and the world’s longest-reigning monarch, Brunei persistently makes its mark within the report books. Nonetheless, this former British protectorate, which gained full independence in 1984, is greater than its oil riches and opulence.
Bonded Via Language and Historical past
The nation is formally often called Negara Brunei Darussalam in its official language, Malay, or Bahasa Melayu. The Malay time period “Bahasa” originates from the Sanskrit phrase “bhasha”, which means language, whereas “Negara” is derived from the Sanskrit phrase “Nagara/Nagari”, which means metropolis. Brunei’s capital, Bandar Seri Begawan, was renamed in 1970 from its earlier identify, Bandar Brunei, to honour the nation’s former ruler, Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien III, whose identify attracts from the Sanskrit time period “Shri Bhagwan”, which means Lord Almighty or ‘the Blessed One’.
Over a century in the past, a historic connection to India emerged when British soldier and sojourner James Brooke, born in Bandel, West Bengal, was granted a good portion of Brunei’s territory in 1841 by Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin II for quelling a insurrection. Brooke later acquired the title of Rajah—derived from the Sanskrit phrase for King—of Sarawak, now a state in Malaysia, and have become often called the White Rajah.
Not-So-Proactive Engagement
Throughout my current go to to Bandar Seri Begawan, significantly on the Royal Regalia Museum within the coronary heart of the capital, I noticed {a photograph} of an Indian instructor wearing a saree. The picture featured the present ruler from his scholar days at Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien Faculty in 1964. Surprisingly, amidst the museum’s glittering assortment of royal regalia—showcasing beautiful state items from a number of heads of state and high ministers from international locations like China, Singapore, Thailand, Pakistan, Ukraine, and the USA—the Indian present was attributed to a former Indian Excessive Commissioner and never a minister.
PM’s Historic Go to
Linguistically and traditionally, Brunei and India share a long-standing connection. Nonetheless, their geopolitical relations require a lift, significantly as India goals to boost its function within the Indo-Pacific area. Notably, no Indian Prime Minister had visited Brunei for a bilateral dialogue earlier than Narendra Modi launched into a visit as a part of his proactive Act East coverage. Though Brunei’s Sandhurst-educated Sultan has made 4 visits to India because the institution of diplomatic ties in 1984, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was the one Indian chief to go to Brunei for 2 back-to-back multilateral occasions—the eleventh ASEAN-India Summit and the eighth East Asia Summit—held in Bandar Seri Begawan in October 2013. The transition from the sooner Look East coverage to a extra energetic Act East coverage started after Modi took workplace in 2014, resulting in the first-ever high-level bilateral go to to Brunei by President Hamid Ansari in 2016.
Oil-Pushed Financial Partnerships
Brunei boasts a high-income, oil-rich financial system. Regardless of the pandemic’s momentary stagnation of its oil-driven sector, Brunei maintains a foreign money valued at par with Singapore’s greenback, which can be broadly used within the nation. India’s main exports to Brunei embrace cars, transport gear, rice, and spices. Conversely, India is one in every of Brunei’s largest importers of crude oil, with annual imports valued at roughly $500-600 million. On the not too long ago opened Brunei Vitality Hub, an interactive oil and fuel museum in Bandar Seri Begawan, the nation’s oil and fuel improvement timeline highlights India as one of many “key prospects” of Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP), a three way partnership between the Authorities of Brunei and Shell, noting the primary supply of oil cargo to India in 2003, with roughly 25,000 barrels equipped annually thereafter. A good portion of Brunei’s Indian diaspora, practically 15,000, primarily works within the oil and fuel sector, with an rising variety of unskilled Indian staff getting into the development and different unorganised sectors in recent times.
Eye On China
With 161 kilometres of shoreline alongside the South China Sea, Brunei, house to just about 4,50,000 folks, holds each geographical and geopolitical significance within the Indo-Pacific area. The nation is a silent claimant to this contested maritime space, sustaining a fragile steadiness in its relations with China and different ASEAN neighbours, regardless of China’s rising assertiveness within the area. In Might of this 12 months, Brunei signed a maritime cooperation settlement with the Philippines, which has not too long ago taken a stand in opposition to China’s aggression within the South China Sea, formally referring to the world close to its shoreline because the West Philippine Sea. Concurrently, the Islamic nation has strengthened its defence ties with India through the years. Prime Minister Modi’s go to is anticipated to solidify this relationship, particularly in mild of China’s increasing affect within the area.
Culinary Connection
Curiously, Brunei’s inhabitants includes greater than 10% Chinese language immigrants, with practically 70% of their ancestors hailing from the Taiwanese islands of Kinmen. This group fled heavy shelling by China through the First and Second Taiwan Strait crises within the Nineteen Fifties. Whereas having fun with conventional ‘roti kacang kahwin’ and ‘roti kuning kahwin’ (the phrase “roti” means bread in Malay, like in Hindi) at Chop Jing Chew, a historic bakery and eatery in Bandar Seri Begawan, I used to be stunned to search out that the Chinese language-immigrant-owned institution is run solely by Indian workers. My culinary exploration additionally revealed that one in every of Brunei’s hottest and top-rated (by Tripadvisor) eating places, Riyaz, situated in a distinguished lodge, is managed by a workforce of Indian cooks and hospitality workers.
Bollywood’s Comfortable Energy
A go to to a different well-regarded restaurant, Soto Pabo, alongside the Brunei riverfront, highlighted Brunei’s deep-rooted cross-cultural reference to India. I encountered two aged Bruneians jamming with a guitar, who greeted me with a heat “Namaste” in fluent Hindi. After introducing myself and becoming a member of their gathering, one in every of them, Hajiali, informed me that he had studied in Lucknow for a 12 months within the Seventies. The septuagenarian, collectively along with his good friend and the eatery’s proprietor’s octogenarian father-in-law, entertained us with a medley of traditional Bollywood songs. I used to be captivated by the nostalgic tunes of Mukesh’s “Sawan Ka Mahina,” Kishore Kumar’s “Zindagi Ek Safar,” and Mohammad Rafi’s “Jo Wada Kiya.” Somewhat later, after savouring their signature Ambuyat set—a standard Bruneian meal—I took a ferry to Kampung Ayer, a standard water village close to the capital. As we sailed via the mangroves populated with long-nosed proboscis monkeys (featured within the Tintin journey, Flight 714), the boatman started singing “Kuch Kuch Hota Hai” upon studying my nationality. This expertise jogged my memory of my travels to Timor-Leste and Indonesia, the place locals additionally fondly recalled the Bollywood traditional. It was a profound demonstration of India’s enduring mushy energy via Bollywood.
Whereas it is heartening to see the affect of Indian tradition in Brunei even earlier than Prime Minister Modi’s go to, India should additional interact with this small but prosperous nation to boost its strategic place within the area.
(Suvam Pal works as a broadcast journalist with TaiwanPlus information channel in Taipei)
Disclaimer: These are the private opinions of the creator
