Myanmar is now open for business, encouraging countries around the world to consider it as a strong destination for investment. Singapore, Japan and India, among others, are in the process of establishing an economic footprint in the Southeast Asian country. Two nations of particular importance to Myanmar are Japan and India, both Asian giants.

 India was one of the initiators of the historical Asian African Conference (AAC) together with Indonesia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan on 18 April-24 April 1955. India regained its independence from British colonial administration on 15 August 1947 led by its first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who was also a founder of the Non-Aligned Movement. The Asia Africa conference was held amid raging war for independence in Asia and Africa.

Malaysia and Myanmar have agreed to forge stronger ties via exchanges of visits at all levels to further boost government-to-government cooperations and people-to-people contacts.

The galleries of Asia Society Museum in New York have been a beehive of activity this past week ... as workers readied the space for the grand unveiling of Buddhist Art of Myanmar, the highly anticipated exhibition opening February 10.

The focus was on beefing up engagement between the two nations in the areas of trade and commerce. Modi is learnt to have made a strong push for improving regional connectivity as a booster to trade and increased people-to-people cultural contact.

As donor darling Myanmar gets ready to hold general elections in late 2015, the United States is increasing its diplomatic presence in the former military state — with the U.S. Agency for International Development as one of the main arms.

Emerging donor South Korea has high hopes for Myanmar, and the latest step is to establish a new think tank to assist in policy, capacity building and research efforts in the country, as well as boost Seoul’s own development footprint in Southeast Asia.

What do the U.S., Argentina, Afghanistan, and Myanmar have in common? This summer, two opportunities enabled me to explore this question from my perspective as an American violinist who recently moved to Argentina from Afghanistan.