NEW DELHI: Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived on Friday in Myanmar for a two day visit — the first by a Chinese leader in 19 years. It’s a visit that will closely be watched by India.Xi will meet de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi when he arrives in capital Naypyidaw today. Suu Kyi had last month defended Myanmar at the International Court of Justice in the Hague over accusations the country’s military had committed atrocities with “genocidal intent,” forcing more than 700,000 ethnic Muslims to flee across the Bangladesh border. The court is expected to deliver its findings on January 23.Xi's visit, to mark 70 years of diplomatic relations between China and Myanmar, comes at a time when both countries are facing criticism over the treatment of their ethnic Muslim minorities — the Uighurs in China and the Rohingyas in Myanmar. The European Union and the US have slammed Myanmar for what the United Nations has termed 'genocidal acts' against the minority Rohingya population. China, which had a dubious human rights record of its own, is however a supporter.Beijing has backed Naypyitaw in its crackdown on Rohingyas. Xi is set to meet Min Aung Hlaing, commander-in-chief of Myanmar’s armed forces, which the UN says is responsible for the atrocities. Last month, the US Treasury Department placed sanctions on four Burmese military leaders, including Hlaing, for their roles in the alleged human rights abuses. Myanmar’s military has repeatedly denied committing atrocities against the Muslim minority.In addition, Myanmar is also part of the Chinese belt and road initiative via the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor which involves, among other projects, the development of a deep-sea port at Myanmar's western coast on the Bay of Bengal, at Kyaukphyu. As the only land bridge between two regional giants — India and China — Myanmar has the potential to tap into global supply chains.Because of the internal situation in Myanmar, most western countries are reluctant to fund projects in the country. Xi's visit comes with the prospect of significantly boosting China's profile and investments in the country. In the first 11 months of 2019 investment from China reached $20.9 billion, accounting for 25.21% of all foreign direct investment, second only to Singapore, according to government data, a Bloomberg report said.Beijing is also supporting Myanmar via tourism: Chinese tourist arrivals increased 150% in 2019 when compared with 2018, Naung Naung Han, president of the Union of Myanmar Travel Association and vice chairman of Myanmar Tourism Federation, said.Money — and tonnes of it. Myanmar will not want to fall accede to all Chinese demands. It successfully slashed the cost of a Chinese-led deep-water port project in Kyaukpyu along the coast of the Bay of Bengal for fear of falling into debt from $9 billion to $1.3 billion.Beijing also wants to restart the stalled 6,000 megawatt Myitsone dam project on the Irrawaddy river, to be built at a cost of $3.6 billion — 90% of the electricity generated from this dam is earmarked for China. Myanmar is well aware of the dangers of falling into the Chinese debt trap — Beijing already holds 40%, or $4 billion worth of Myanmar's foreign debt, constituting the largest chunk.The two countries also have an uneasy relationship over the presence of armed insurgents along the China-Myanmar border, whom Beijing has lent support — to the extent that it even scuttled a peace deal between the insurgents and the Myanmar government in 2015 simply because it was brokered by western governments and Japan, whose influence China doesn't want in its backyard.A Chinese-developed deep sea port in the Bay of Bengal will complete the encirclement of India — with Sri Lanka already having given its Hambantota port on a 99-year lease to China, which has also developed the Gwadar port on Pakistan's coast on the Arabian Sea. China has already been given a mediator’s status by Dhaka and Naypyitaw in their Rohingya crisis dispute — adding to New Delhi's isolation in South Asia , considering that even Nepal, which will have a high-speed rail link built by China and Sri Lanka, which has a known pro-China Sri Lankan government, headed by brothers Gotabaya Rajapaksa as president and Mahinda Rajapaksa as PM, are heavily leaning on Beijing.Inputs from Bloomberg