India Myanmar Relations

At the time of its independence in 1948, Myanmar had not joined the Commonwealth due to too much bitterness towards British. Immediately afterwards, Burma came under the grip of communists {Red Flag, White Flag, Thirty Comrades, Revolutionary Burma Army etc. were some of the groups}. In 1962, the Military of Burma overthrew the democratic regime. Since then, Burma has been under direct or indirect Military rule until recently when democracy has returned to the country.

During initial days of military rule, there was bitterness in India-Myanmar relations. Burma not only became more and more isolated from world but also from its own neighbours except China. The Burmese rulers ordered expulsion of Indian community from there because India supported the pro-democracy movement. Its leader General Ne Win not only took anti-India, anti-Soviet stand, but also withdrew from the Non-alignment Movement in 1979.

Between 1962 and 1974, the supreme body in Burma was a Revolutionary Council headed by the general, and almost all aspects of society (business, media, production) were nationalized or brought under government control under the Burmese Way to Socialist which combined Soviet-style nationalisation and central planning with the governmental implementation of superstitious beliefs. A new constitution of the Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma was adopted in 1974, until 1988, the country was ruled as a one-party system, with the General and other military officers resigning and ruling through the Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP). During this period, Burma became one of the world’s most impoverished countries.

In 1987, India’s Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi visited Burma to seek ways to normalize relations. However, the relations worsened after the military junta’s bloody repression of pro-democracy agitations in 1988, which led to 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 cultivating ties with Myanmar, as part of Look East Policy, aimed to increase India’s participation and influence in Southeast Asia and to counteract the growing influence of the People’s Republic of China.

At the same time, India continued to sympathize with prodemocracy groups and awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for international Understanding to Aung San Suu Kyi in 1993, by which time she had already become persona non grata to the Myanmar government.

Myanmar towards Democracy

Myanmar has witnessed dramatic developments in the recent past as it had moved to a democratic regime and re-engages the international community after long years of isolation. These developments have been taking place alongside rapidly changing strategic and economic dynamics in the region.

Strategic Importance of Myanmar

There are a number of external and internal factors that point to the strategic importance of Myanmar for India.

• Myanmar is located at the junction of East and South, thus making a land bridge between India and South East Asia. Myanmar is second largest of India’s neighbours and largest in eastern side. India and Myanmar share a land border of 1640 kilometers and most part of it is unfenced. The multiple insurgent groups operate in the North East States and many of them are known to have their bases in Myanmar. Such groups can be successfully tackled only if the bilateral relations between the two countries are warm and friendly.
• Myanmar is a key country in the Bay of Bengal littoral region. India and Myanmar share a maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal. An unfriendly Myanmar might host a rival naval presence in the Bay of Bengal and pose complications to Indian security.
• Myanamar and China share 2185 kilometers border, just next to India-China disputed border. For Myanmar, improved relations with India will reduce the overdependence on China.
• Myanmar has large natural gas reserves, and currently it is 36th largest natural gas producing country. It is in India ‘s interest to gain from its proximity in the use of these resources. India can provide help by way of investment and technology for exploration as well as production.
• The Look East Policy was targeted at opening the markets in South East Asia and for fulfilling the objective, cooperation of Myanmar was important.

Bilateral Engagement

At present, India is actively involved in over a dozen projects in Myanmar, both in infrastructural and non-infrastructural areas. Of them, the most important are India-Myanmar-Thailand Friendship Highway and Kaladan Multi-modal Transit Transport project. On strategic front, India and Myanmar are leading members of BIMSTEC and the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation, along with Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand, helping India develop its influence and ties amongst Southeast Asian nations.

Challenges ahead

Currently, India faces the newly competitive diplomatic environment in not only Myanmar but entire South Asia. In the last two decades, India’s only rival for Myanmar’s affections was China. Now, the United States, Europe and Japan, which sought to isolate and punish Myanmar all these years, are falling over each other to reconnect with the nation. The onus is on Delhi to demonstrate the special value of its ties to Naypyidaw, which is acutely conscious of Myanmar’s geopolitical significance.