INTRO:

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.
HISTORY (For knowledgeable not for mains but can take few points):

• India – Myanmar/Burmese relations date to antiquity and cultural

exchanges included Buddhism and the Burmese script, which was based
on the Indian Grantha script.
• In particular, Theravada Buddhism has tremendously influenced Burmese
society and culture for millennia, with around 90% of Burma’s population
continuing to follow the religion.
• Myanmar (formerly Burma) was made a province of British India in 1885
by British rulers through 3 indo Burmese war and again separated in
1937.
• It was in Japanese-occupied Burma that Indian nationalist Subhas
Chandra Bose delivered his “Give me blood and I will give you freedom!”
slogan.
• India established diplomatic relations after Myanmar’s independence
from Britain in 1948.
• A number of agreements enhancing bilateral Cooperation have been
signed between the two countries. Institutional mechanisms for
facilitating regular dialogue on a range of issues of bilateral interest have
also been established.
• For many years, Indo-Burmese relations were strong due to Myanmar
previously having been a province of India, due to cultural links,
flourishing commerce, common interests in regional affairs and the
presence of a significant Indian community in Myanmar.
• India provided considerable support when Myanmar struggled with
regional insurgencies.
• The overthrow of the democratic government by the Military of
Myanmar led to strains in ties. Along with much of the world, India
condemned the suppression of democracy and Myanmar ordered the
expulsion of the Burmese Indian community, increasing its own isolation
from the world.
• Only China maintained close links with Myanmar while India supported
the pro-democracy movement.
 • A major breakthrough occurred in 1987 when the then-Indian Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi visited Myanmar, but relations worsened after the
military junta’s reaction towards pro-democracy movements in 1988,
which resulted in an influx of Burmese refugees into India.
• However, since 1993 the governments of the Indian Prime Ministers P.
V. Narasimha Rao and Atal Bihari Vajpayee changed course and began to
establish warmer relations between the two nations,
• India-Myanmar joint operation destroyed several militant camps of
Arakan Army on the Indo-Myanmar border.
• During 2002, the Indian Consulate General in Mandalay was re -opened
and the Consulate General of Myanmar was set up in Kolkata.
• Presently our relation with Myanmar is complicated, Rohingya issue
continues to fester and it strains Myanmar’s relations with Bangladesh &
China’s expanding economic foot print in Myanmar and the continuing
impasse on India-China border are the present day realities.

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

CURRENt AFFAIRS ADDING :

Myanmar has been in turmoil since February, 2021 when the military seized control of the
country in a coup and detained Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders of her National League
for Democracy (NLD).Being the world’s largest democracy, India shall feel concerned when
democracy in such a proximity is threatened. However, India also has vital interests in
Myanmar that it would like to protect and enhance.While the West has made democracy
the sole prism of its Myanmar policy, India doesn’t have that luxury.Like most other
immediate neighbours, India has been keen to push back against Myanmar military’s
authoritarian tendencies. Its multiple interests too suggest India to keep its channels of
communication open with all stakeholders.
Bilateral trade: India sees Myanmar as being vital to fulfilling its ambition to become a $5
trillion economy by 2024. But with a total bilateral trade of $2 billion, India’s economic
engagement with Myanmar lags behind China.

Slow Pace of Development Projects

Connectivity/ infrastructure projects like the Trilateral Highway, the Kaladan Multi-
modal Transport and Transit Project are long drawn due to security complications.

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
Development Cooperation

• Development Cooperation valued at $1.4 Billion (through grants) is

substantive.
• Capacity building has been accorded priority, several new institutions
were set up for Agricultural education, Information Technology and
Industrial training. They have benefited Myanmar Youth immensely.
• Over 100 projects have been completed as part of the Border
Development Programme in Western Myanmar.
• Two of the major connectivity projects i.e., Kaladan Project and Trilateral
Highway are major cause of concern and needs high level attention. and
they are part of policy for the Indian Ocean called Security and Growth
for All in the Region(SAGAR), central to which is “port-led development,”

Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport

Aims to connect the eastern Indian seaport of Kolkata with the Sittwe deep-water port in
Myanmar’s Rakhine state by sea.
India developed the Sittwe port in Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
Multi-modal trinity of sea, river and road transport corridor to boost interconnectivity.
Cement India’s footprint in Rakhine and boost its presence in the Bay of Bengal.
Defence cooperation

• The Indian and Myanmar armies have carried out two joint military
operations, codenamed Operation Sun shine, to fight militants along the
borders of Myanmar’s Rakhine state.
• India provides military training and conducts joint military exercises with
the Myanmar Army like the India-Myanmar Bilateral Military Exercise
(IMBAX-2017and IMBEX 2018-19), by which India had trained the
Myanmar Army to be able to participate in UN Peacekeeping Operations.
• India and Myanmar signed a landmark defense cooperation agreement.
• The navies of both India and Myanmar conducted a historic bilateral
naval exercise, IMNEX-18.
• India also invited the Myanmar Army to participate in the India -led
multilateral Milan naval exercisethat occurs biennially in the Andaman
and Nicobar Islands.
• To elevate its “Made in India” arms industry, India has identified
Myanmar as key to increasing its military exports. Myanmar bought
India’s first locally-produced anti-submarine torpedo, called TAL Shyena,
acquired a diesel-electric Kilo-class submarine, INS Sindhuvir.

Commercial Co-operation

• India is Burma’s 4th largest trading partner after Thailand, China, and
Singapore.
• India is the second-largest export market for Burmese exports after
Thailand.
• The agriculture sector dominates the bilateral trade which comprises
mostly of pulses and beans imports to India.
• India is additionally the tenth largest investor in Myanmar. India has
substantial investments in Myanmar’s oil and gas sector.
• India and Myanmar have decided to work together to launch India’s
RuPay Card in that country at the earliest and explore the creation of a
digital payment gateway.
People to people contact:

• Buddhist Circuit initiative, seeks to double foreign tourist arrivals and

revenue by connecting ancient Buddhist heritage sites across different
states in India.
• It could also build up India’s diplomatic reservoir of goodwill and trust
with Buddhist-majority countries such as Myanmar.
• India’s assistance in restoring of the Ananda temple in Bagan and two
temples in Bodh Gaya built by Burmese rulers has been widely
appreciated in Myanmar.
• India’s timely help of medicines and equipment to fight the Corona
pandemic also received positive response in Myanmar.

Cooperation at Political & Diplomatic Levels

• Cooperation on political and diplomatic levels exist in ample measures.

• Since 2014, seven visits at the head of state/government level took place
resulting in numerous agreements and deepening of mutual
understanding.
• Liaison Office of the embassy of India was inaugurated recently, where,
only a few countries have set-up such offices.

WAY FORWARD

• Delicate Balancing On Rohingya Issue

o The balancing act between Myanmar and Bangladesh remains one of the
keys to India’s overall approach to Rohingya issue.
o By positioning as playing an active role in facilitating the return of
Rohingya to Myanmar, India has made it clear that, it supports
Myanmar’s efforts and also understands Bangladesh’s burden.
o The quicker the Rohingya issue is resolved, the easier it will be for India
to manage its relations with Myanmar and Bangladesh, focusing instead
more on bilateral and sub-regional economic cooperation.

• Non-Interference in Internal Politics

o The political logic that has shaped India’s Myanmar policy since the
1990s has been to support democratization driven from within the
country.
o This has allowed India to engage with the military that played a key role
in Myanmar’s political transition.
o Converting our investments in the trilateral highway and the kaladan
projects to fuller trade and investment corridors.
o A broader development partnership to the grassroots with the help of
civil society.
o New political approach to the Indian Insurgent Groups issue beyond the
intelligence-based approaches.