India and Myanmar Relations

India and Myanmar are neighbours and two aspirational nations on the development path. Geographically, India is part of South Asia, and Myanmar is part of Southeast Asia. Myanmar acts as a bridge between South Asia and South-East Asia. So, Myanmar links India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and its ‘Act East Policy.

India Myanmar Relations

In 1951, India and Myanmar signed a Treaty of Friendship. In 1987, ties between India and Myanmar became stronger during the visit of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. Many agreements consisting of bilateral cooperation were signed between the two countries. For facilitating regular dialogue on several issues of bilateral interests, institutional mechanisms were established.

• The relationship between India and Myanmar is rooted in ethnic, historical, religious and cultural ties
• India is considered the country of Lord Buddha, and hence it is a pilgrimage country for the people living in Myanmar
• These two countries’ geographical proximity has helped sustain and develop cordial relations and facilitated contact among people to people
• Myanmar and India share a long land border of more than 1,600 km and a maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal
• A sizeable Indian origin population (approximately 2.5 million) lives in Myanmar

Cooperation between India and Myanmar

In July 1997, Myanmar became a member of ASEAN. Myanmar was the only ASEAN country that shared a land border between ASEAN and India. Some initiatives between India and Myanmar are:

BIMSTEC: In December 1997, Myanmar became a member of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation and signed the BIMSTEC Free Trade Agreement. In the BIMSTEC region, Myanmar mainly trades with India and Thailand. The main export items of Myanmar to India are all the agricultural products, including pulses, beans and maize. Forest products, including hardwood and teak, are also exported from Myanmar to India.

Mekong Ganga Cooperation: Myanmar has been a member of the Mekong Ganga Cooperation since its inception in November 2000. Mekong Ganga Cooperation is an initiative that involves six countries – India and five ASEAN countries of Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar and Vietnam.

Strategic importance of Myanmar for India

• India Myanmar relations finally got better after the two nations signed the Treaty of Friendship in 1951. Later, the foundation of their friendship became more robust and more meaningful after Rajiv Gandhi’s visit in 1987
• The strategic importance of Myanmar for India is because of the shared historical, cultural, geographical and economic ties. The countries also share geographical land borders and maritime boundaries in the Bay of Bengal
• To ensure India’s national security interests from the north-eastern state’s left-wing extremists and narcotic trade routes, India and Myanmar armies have carried out several joint military operations, for example, Operation Sunshine

Why is Myanmar important to India?

Myanmar is India’s bridge to other South-East Asian nations.

• India shares a land boundary with Myanmar, which is over 1,600 kilometres. Four Indian states, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Manipur, and Nagaland, share a land boundary with Myanmar. The two countries also share a maritime border off the coast of the Bay of Bengal
• India and Myanmar have the Free Movement Regime mechanism
• This mechanism has been introduced to permit the free movement of members of the various tribal groups across the borders of both nations without any visa requirement. This visa-free movement is only permitted up to 16 kilometres from the border
• However, a report by the Union Home Ministry has pointed out the harmful effects of the Free Movement Regime. The report points to this mechanism being misused by various insurgent groups for smuggling of human beings, arms and ammunition, narcotics and other psychotropic substances, and Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICN)
• In recent times, the government of Myanmar has cooperated with India to flush out the insurgents from their territory

Rohingya Issue

• Rohingya is an ethnic group from the Rakhine state of Myanmar. The 1982 Citizenship Act of Myanmar doesn’t recognize these people and describes them as ‘illegal immigrants from Bangladesh’
• Rohingya are described as the refugees  who have migrated dangerously to Thailand, India, Bangladesh, Laos, and other countries
• Based on a report by the Intelligence Bureau (IB), over 40,000 Rohingya refugees are living illegally in India. These people have been spotted in the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi-NCT, and in states such as Assam, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu Telangana, and West Bengal
• According to the Intelligence Bureau (IB), the Arakan Salvation Army, a banned terror group consisting of Rohingyas, intends to target India, and they are assisted by the notorious ISI of Pakistan in this regard
• Rohingyas have also been arrested for the terror attack on the Mahabodhi temple in Gaya (Bihar)

Conclusion

India and Myanmar will have a lot to collaborate on in the future and continue their glorious partnership. In addition to Myanmar, India needs to speed up the pace at which it executes various projects in other countries around the globe, specifically in its neighbours. Further, India needs to understand that the ‘China factor’ should not influence its relationship with any nation, including Myanmar. The ties with these nations should be stand-alone, and India should not hesitate to bat on the front foot. If given new attention, the India Myanmar Relations can serve as a model of how neighbours can be great friends and development partners.