India-Myanmar Relations

Myanmar and India’s long-running power struggle has come to an end. In a coup d’etat, the Myanmar military deposed the democratically elected government. The impact of the coup on India has shattered the decade-old dream of a democratic Myanmar.

India and Myanmar are not only neighbours, but aspirational countries on the road to development. These common interests, as well as a shared history, bring the two countries together to collaborate in a variety of fields. As a result, India-Myanmar relations are positive.

The coup will have geopolitical ramifications for India and its neighbours.

Strategic importance of Myanmar and India 

• Myanmar and India’s relationship finally got better after they signed the treaty of friendship in 1951. Later, the foundation of their friendship became more strong and meaningful after Rajiv Gandhi’s visit in 1987
• The Strategic Importance of Myanmar for India is eminent, one of the reasons is that Myanmar and India have so many things in common when it comes to history, culture, tradition, religious ties, ethnicity and much more. Apart from sharing so many similarities, both the countries also celebrate the sharing of geographical land border and maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal
• To ensure India’s national security interests from north-eastern state’s left-wing extremists and narcotic trade routes, India and Myanmar armies have carried several joint military operations, for example Operation Sunshine
• Cooperation between India and Myanmar is great, several Indian companies made economic trade agreements and infrastructure with companies in Myanmar. Companies such as Essar, GAIL, ONGC Videsh Ltd have invested in Myanmar’s energy sector
• To accelerate the pace of “Made in India” arms industry, India has also identified Myanmar as one of the key places to increase its military exports

Geographical Location: India shares a land boundary with Myanmar which stretches 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 boundary off the coast of the Bay of Bengal.

The relation between India and Myanmar has various dimensions:

●      Defence and Security Ties

⮚      Security issues and defence matters have dominated the ties between the two nations since the advent of the British into India. In recent times, this has assumed critical importance

⮚      Geographically, India is part of South Asia and Myanmar is part of Southeast Asia. Myanmar, then, acts as a bridge between South Asia and Southeast Asia. So, it can be said that Myanmar is the link between India’s ‘Neighborhood First’ policy and its ‘Act East Policy’. Myanmar is also India’s bridge to other South-East Asian nations

⮚      The government of Myanmar has cooperated with India and flushed out the insurgents from their territory. Armed forces of both nations launched Operation Sunrise 1 and 2 in 2019. These operations were launched in a coordinated manner in the states of Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, and Nagaland and on the Myanmar side. This led to massive damage being inflicted on the various insurgent groups

⮚      In most of India’s dealings with its neighbours, the ‘China’ factor has assumed importance for the past decade or so. In this regard, Myanmar’s relationship with China is no different

●      Connectivity Projects

⮚      Two major connectivity projects are being executed currently by both nations i.e., the Kaladan Multi-Modal Corridor project and the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway

⮚      India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway Project:  This project connects Moreh in Mizoram to Mae Sot in Thailand. India has agreed to construct the Kalewa-Yagyi road which is 126 km in length and build 69 bridges along the Tamu-Kalewa road. It connects India to South-East Asia.  The Government has announced that this road will get extended across other nations in South-East Asia. The project is expected to be completed soon.

●      Energy Cooperation

⮚      Myanmar has 20 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in reserves. It is this that India seeks to tap into as a developing nation that is energy-starved.

⮚      Over the US$ 1.2 billion invested by India in Myanmar, a large chunk of these investments has been in the energy sector.

●      Historical/ Cultural Relations

⮚      The two nations share a historical past and a similar culture. Buddhism binds the two nations.

⮚      Nationalist leader Lokmanya Tilak, who got arrested under the charges of sedition in 1907 was jailed in Mandalay.

⮚      India is also working on the restoration of the Ananda Temple in Bagan.

●      Rohingya Issue

⮚      They are those who are from the Rakhine state of Myanmar. The 1982 Citizenship Act of Myanmar doesn’t recognize those people who practice Islam and describes these people as ‘illegal immigrants from Bangladesh

⮚      They get described as the ‘boat people’ 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 They have been spotted in the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi-NCT as well as in states such as Assam, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and West Bengal

⮚      According to the International Baccalaureate (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 this 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 on a stand-alone basis and India should not hesitate to bat on the front foot. If given new attention, the relationship between these two countries can serve as a model of how neighbours can be great friends as well as development partners.