India - Myanmar Ties: RSTV – Big Picture

Rajya Sabha TV programs like ‘The Big Picture’, ‘In Depth’ and ‘India’s World’ are informative programs that are important for UPSC preparation. In this article, you can read about the discussions held in the ‘Big Picture’ episode on “India – Myanmar Ties” for the IAS exam.

India – Myanmar Ties: RSTV – Big Picture:- Download PDF Here

Anchor: Frank Rausan Pereira

Guests: Vivek Katju, Former Ambassador; Prof. Harsh V. Pant, Head, Strategic Studies, Observer Research Foundation; Subimal Bhattacharjee, Defence and Security Analyst; Akhilesh Suman, Assistant Editor, RSTV.

What’s in the News?

• India and Myanmar have exchanged 10 agreements in a number of fields ranging from infrastructure, energy, communication and health. The agreements and Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed and exchanged after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting Myanmar President Win Myint.
• The visiting dignitary arrived in India for a four-day visit and the two leaders held discussions on a wide range of bilateral issues.
• India and Myanmar have close religious, linguistic and ethnic ties.

The agreements and  their significance

• The success of India’s Act East Policy, Neighbourhood First Policy largely depends on India’s relations with Myanmar. The ten agreements signed would also strengthen the relationship between the two countries. 
• The agreements have been signed with a focus on the development of the Rakhine state in Myanmar. India has signed four agreements regarding Rakhine state. 
• The infrastructure and socio-economic projects jointly with Myanmar have been focussed on the restive Rakhine state, particularly in the areas of education, health, agriculture, agro-processing, upgradation of roads, small power projects and livelihood activity.
• It is a move to help the Rohingyas resettle in the Rakhine state. This is India’s approach as a long-term solution for the Rohingya crisis.
• The other major agreements that were signed were:
  • Purchase of Gas and Oil from Myanmar.
  • Repatriation of people who have been trafficked from Myanmar.

What is the significance of Myanmar to India?

• Myanmar is geopolitically significant to India as it stands at the centre of the India-Southeast Asia geography.
• India and Myanmar share a long 1,643 km geographical land border and maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal. Myanmar shares borders with 4 Indian states – Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India. 
• Myanmar is the only ASEAN country adjoining India and, therefore, it is India’s gateway to South-East Asia, with which India is seeking greater economic integration through the ‘Act East‘ policy. 
• Myanmar is also an important member of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). 
• It is the only country that sits at the intersection of India’s Neighborhood First policy and its Act East policy.
• Myanmar is an essential element in India’s practice of regional diplomacy in the Indo-Pacific, and serves as a land bridge to connect South Asia and Southeast Asia. Thus, it is in India’s geostrategic interest to strengthen its bilateral ties with Myanmar while ensuring that the latter prevails as a stable and prosperous economy.

What is the status of India and Myanmar bilateral relations and how can we benefit from each other?

• There has been a dramatic upturn in the bilateral relations between the two countries, especially on the front of security cooperation for dealing with northeast insurgents.
• The northeast insurgents were a point of friction between the two countries, however, during recent times, the cooperation between the two countries has increased and there is greater cooperation between the respective security forces, accompanied with joint exercises, and joint manoeuvring on the border.
  • India-Myanmar Bilateral Army Exercise (IMBAX) is aimed at building and promoting closer relations between the two armies.
• India has reciprocated by providing soft loans worth $2 billion.
• India is also providing assistance in setting up institutions of higher learning and research in Myanmar. 
• It proves that the relation is at an inflection point. The relationship between the two countries has grown through security cooperation to engagement in infrastructure projects.
• India and Myanmar also share the same strategic perspective on the development and evolution of the neighbourhood. 
• India and Myanmar share close cultural ties and a sense of deep kinship, given India’s Buddhist heritage. India’s ‘Buddhist Circuit’ initiative will help enhance people-to-people interaction between the two countries.
• Hence, the bilateral relations between Indian and Myanmar is a multi-layered relationship based on commerce, culture and connectivity, and currently, both the countries are at a point where they are substantially engaged with each other.

How has India and Myanmar dealt with the issue of Insurgency?

• Of the four states that India shares a border with Myanmar, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh have witnessed regular activity of various militant groups along the border. 
• Recently in May 2019, the armies of India and Myanmar had carried out a three-week-long coordinated operation within their respective border areas, targeting several militant groups. This was termed as “Operation Sunrise” and was carried out in two phases. 
  • In the first phase of “Operation Sunrise”, the Indian Army targeted members of the Arakan Army, an insurgent group in Myanmar, who were opposed to the Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project.
• India has also been consciously trying to build a relationship on the strategic-security front with Myanmar. 
• It is important to note that despite Myanmar’s good relations with China, it has focussed on India as well and is interested in further strengthening the bilateral relations.

Is there an effort being made by Myanmar to strike a balance with India and China?

• China is Myanmar’s largest investor. It has also announced its participation in the China Myanmar Economic Corridor, hence it is stipulated that this visit could also be an effort to balance the equation between India and China.
• The investments made by China in Myanmar is quite difficult for any other country to match.
• India has a slow, yet consistent approach in its relations with Myanmar. It has consistently supported Myanmar on all fronts, especially on the issue of Rohingyas residing in Myanmar.
  • India does not directly engage with the issue of Myanmar’s treatment of its Rohingya Muslim minority but has extended all its help to Myanmar to sort this problem. 

Any issue that has received special focus during the extensive talks between India and Myanmar?

• India and Myanmar have held extensive talks and three significant issues were given priority:
  • India’s trilateral highway project with Myanmar and Thailand
  • India’s connection to other ASEAN countries.
  • Medical research and facilities
• India has a few projects lined up focussing on commerce and connectivity with Myanmar.
• India has also been building a trilateral highway with Myanmar and Thailand which would facilitate direct transportation between these countries.
• India has also been holding talks with Myanmar to discuss as to how India could connect with other ASEAN countries through Myanmar. 
• Myanmar has been insisting on the implementation of the trilateral highway at an accelerated pace, however India has been lagging behind due to technical, and geographical difficulties during the process of execution.
• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also reiterated his support to the Myanmar President on all fronts as India has always done. This led to the signing of a quick impact agreement between the two countries. 
• This agreement would allow Myanmar to request any kind of help on an urgent basis. There would be a designated fund within the Ministry of External Affairs which would be used for supporting Myanmar.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also talked to the Myanmar President about the facilities to be provided to the Indian business community residing in Myanmar, in order to facilitate Indian investments in Myanmar.

Should India and Myanmar work on their trade relations?

• Yes, the current bilateral trade between India and Myanmar is only $1.7 billion, and since both the countries are neighbours, there’s a lot of scope for improvement on the trade front.
  • India is the fifth-largest trading partner of Myanmar.
• Trade between the two countries has also been a point of contention as far as the larger gamut of relations is concerned.
• China has expanded its trade relations and its investment in Myanmar to a large extent, which puts India in a defensive position.
• This is one of the reasons why India has to place a lot of emphasis on improving connectivity. India has to remember the significance of Myanmar as a gateway to South-east Asia, and this convergence needs to be exploited in a better manner.
• Effective implementation of projects, timely completion of projects should be ensured. India should also focus on connectivity and infrastructure projects for which Myanmar has been seeking help from India.
• Thus India needs to focus on expeditious involvement and needs to stop its delayed bureaucratic response. In this regard, the availability of a quick impact fund makes it possible for India to meet the aspirations and expectations of Myanmar from India.
• Being in a world and time, when China is changing all the rules of trade, India would have to come up with proper institutional mechanisms which would allow India to be more efficient and yield productive outcomes.
• People-to-people ties between Myanmar and India, including trade fairs and haats at the border, are quite informal. The challenge here would be to translate this informal economy into a formal economy, as it will have a bearing on the volume of trade between the two countries.

How concerned should India be about China encircling it with its expansion of trade and investments in its neighbouring countries?

• India cannot match up to the level of investments and volume of trade of China and it isn’t India’s goal either.
• India should remain focussed on expanding its trade with Myanmar. In order to expand its trade with Myanmar, India has to deliver the projects it has taken up so far. It has to focus on critical connectivity projects, such as the completion of the India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway, and the construction of 120 kms of road beyond Tamu. 
• India had wanted to expand border trade with Myanmar and had named cities through which it would initiate the process, such as Moreh in Manipur, Champhai in Mizoram and Nampong in Arunachal Pradesh. However, they were never converted into action. 
• The north-east holds vast potential for trade expansion. This should allow India to do what it does best instead of comparing itself to China.

Issues:

• High-level meetings are organized frequently between Myanmar and India, yet the follow-up meetings are not conducted. 
• There has been a very insignificant growth in trade between both the countries over the past decade. Lack of connectivity between both the countries is also not emphasized upon.
• Completion of the projects taken up has been delayed, this could portray India as unreliable.
• The smuggling of illegal items through Myanmar into the north-east has to be controlled. 
• India – Myanmar border is highly porous, poorly guarded and located along a remote, underdeveloped, insurgency-prone region and is in proximity to an opium-producing area (Golden Triangle). 

Way Forward:

• The border issue needs to be resolved and delineated. 
• India’s presence in Myanmar should be increased. Indians living in Myanmar should become politically active. 
• India needs to be more proactively engaged with Myanmar and focus on strengthening the bilateral relations.
• Myanmar’s role in integrating India with South-east Asia needs to be appreciated and its strategic role in India’s policies needs to be acknowledged. India has done very well with the Rohingya crisis and has let Myanmar know that India would be supporting them, in a manner that allows India to uphold certain values. 
• India’s approach to the Rohingya crisis has served it very well, and Myanmar’s reciprocity on the issue of terror, and insurgents has also been very good. This has brought about a degree of confidence upon which India needs to build further by quickly completing time-bound projects.
• India should be focussing on culture, commerce and connectivity. After its focus on the Rakhine state, India should divert its focus on expanding trade through Moreh.
• India should also work upon increasing tourism by promoting and appealing to the cultural similarities between the two countries.

Conclusion:

India’s relationship with Myanmar is a strong relationship and it has taken a positive trajectory over the past decade, however there are aspects which need to be focussed on, such as commerce, culture and connectivity. 

India – Myanmar Ties: RSTV – Big Picture:- Download PDF Here

Related Links:

Read previous RSTV articles here.