• India shares a historical relationship with Myanmar marked by deep-rooted ethnic, cultural, and religious ties. 
• Bilateral ties started improving in the 1990s under the direct military rule of the State Law & Order Restoration Council (SLORC)/State Peace & Development Council (SPDC) from 1988 to 2010 which marked close Indo-Myanmar cooperation in the domains of counter-insurgency and border management.
• In March 2011, under a new constitution, Myanmar embarked on a protracted transition from military rule to responsible democratic governance.
• Myanmar went through elections in 2011. National League for Democracy (NLD) - a party led by Aung San Suu Kyi - formed Myanmar's first democratically elected government in five decades. The NLD-led government added salience to the bilateral relations as Myanmar is considered as the gateway for India's politico-economic forays into South-East Asia and beyond.
• The success of India's Act East Policy is contingent upon the bilateral relationship and cooperation in regional forums such as BIMSTEC, ASEAN, etc.
• In 2021, the military in Myanmar again seized power (Junta rule) through a coup.

Significance of Bilateral Relations

Strategic Importance

The reasons for the strategic importance of Myanmar to India are:

• Myanmar is located at the tri-junction of East Asia, South Asia and South-East Asia.
• Myanmar is the second largest of India’s neighbours and the largest on the eastern flank.
• Myanmar provides the Eastern littoral of the Bay of Bengal. An unfriendly Myanmar hosting a foreign naval presence would pose a threat to Indian security.
• Myanmar has a big border with China in the north contiguous with the Sino-Indian disputed border which has many implications.
• India is concerned about China’s strategic forays into Myanmar and the Indian Ocean. Political developments in Myanmar have security, political, and economic implications for India.
• India has both a land border (1640 km) and a maritime boundary with Myanmar in the Bay of Bengal. Four Indian states (Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram) border Myanmar (Kachin & Chin states and Sagaing Division)
• China can gain access to the Indian Ocean through Myanmar. China is making considerably big-sized strategic investments in Myanmar.
• Myanmar becomes for India in the wake of the Golden Triangle region which is one of the largest producers of opium and illegal drugs, and lies on the border of Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand.
• India considers Myanmar an important pillar in its important Neighbourhood First Policy and promised to help overcome economic and health challenges.

Economic Importance

• Economic cooperation is a very important factor in the Indo-Myanmar relationship as it is considered India’s gateway to the East Asian market for a long. The Act East policy further underscores this component. Trade grew from $424 million in 2004-05 to $2 billion in 2014-15. It fell to about 1.6 billion in 2019-20.
• Main items of export from India to Myanmar are medicaments, raw-iron bars, cotton yarn, etc.
• Main items of export from Myanmar to India are dried legumes, nuts, corn, etc. 
• Recently, a Myanmarese minister has said that Myanmar is committed to enhancing bilateral ties and expanding the G2G trade basket with the inclusion of more agro items such as green mung beans.
• The G2G Memorandum of Understanding on trade cooperation for urad and pulses, signed in 2021, has been successful. According to the agreement, Myanmar can export 250000 tonnes of urad and 100000 tonnes of tur to India annually from the year 2021-22 to 2025-26.
• Myanmar is also encouraging bilateral trade settlement in local currencies with India. The central government in India has also allowed international trade settlements in Indian rupees for export schemes under the foreign trade policy.
• Potential areas of cooperation between the two countries are agriculture, agro-processing, agrochemicals, oil & gas, energy, healthcare, IT, skill development, and textiles.
• China has raised its economic profile in South-East Asia, particularly in Myanmar despite the sanctions imposed by the west against the military junta.  India also increased its economic interaction, especially in view of the large oil and gas resources available in Myanmar and much needed by India.

Development Assistance

• India's development assistance portfolio in Myanmar is now over USD 1.75 billion, the bulk of which is grant-funded.
• Projects in which India is involved in Myanmar include

1. Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project
2. The Trilateral Highway Project which connects India's North-East with Myanmar and Thailand
3. Setting up institutions for higher learning and research namely Myanmar Institute of Information Technology, Advanced Centre for Agricultural Research and Education, Myanmar-India Centre for Enhancement of IT Skills, India-Myanmar Industrial Training Centres
4. Upgradation of Yangon Children's Hospital and Sittwe General Hospital
5. Construction of a 200-bed women's hospital at Monywa
6. Rakhine State Development Programme
7. Restoration and Conservation Ananda Temple, Began
8. Repair and conservation of 92 earthquake-damaged pagodas
9. Reconstruction of Yamethin Women Police Training Centre

• India has responded promptly and effectively in rendering assistance following natural calamities in Myanmar like Cyclone Mora (2017), Komen (2015), the earthquake in Shan State (2010), and Cyclone Nargis (2008).
• In 2020, in the wake COVID-19 pandemic, India handed over medical equipment, medicines, and other supplies worth USD 900000.

Connectivity

• Poor connectivity is an issue in bilateral relations.
• Rail, road, and air connectivity is not up to the mark.
• There are two entry-exist points between India and Myanmar

1. Tamu-Moreh
2. Rih-Zowkhawthar 

• Negotiation on a Motor Vehicle Agreement is also undergoing.

Cultural Cooperation

• The two countries share close cultural ties and a sense of deep kinship, giving India's Buddhist heritage.
• India is undertaking some key initiatives in the restoration of Ananda Temple in Bagan, and the repair and conservation of a large number of damaged pagodas.
• India has also completed work on the restoration and renovation of two historic temples in Bodh Gaya built by Myanmar rulers King Mindon and King Baygyidaw.
• Many events had been organized in Myanmar like

1. International Yoga Day
2. 150th Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi
3. 550th Birth Anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji
4. Constitution Day
5. ICCR Foundation Day

Indian Diaspora

• Between 1.5 and 2 million people of Indian origin are living and working at various places in Myanmar.
• A large number of Indian-origin people live in Bago and Tanintharyi Region and Mon State, primarily engaged in farming.

Energy Security

• Myanmar is considered important for India's energy security also.
• Myanmar is a potentially important partner in the energy sector as future offshore gas finds in Bay of Bengal region can be piped to India.
• India currently has a Joint Working Group (JWG) on oil & gas and JWG on renewable energy.
• Myanmar has reportedly world’s tenth biggest gas reserves estimated to be more than 90 trillion cubic feet.  India has evinced keen interest to procure gas from Myanmar.  ONGC Videsh Limited  (OVL) and Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL) hold 30 % stakes in the exploration and production of gas in Myanmar’s A1 and A3 off shore blocks located in Sittwe Area of Arakan State.
• The earlier proposal to bring the gas in Myanmar by a pipeline through Bangladesh to India had to be dropped because of unreasonable demands from Bangladesh.  The latest proposal is to bring the gas through a 1575 Km pipeline  (longer than the Bangladesh route) from Sittwe port in Myanmar through Aizwal-Silchar-Guahawti-Siliguri to Gaya  linking it to Haldia-Jagadishpur oil pipeline in Gaya (Bihar).

Security Considerations

• Insurgency in the North Eastern States of India:

1. Some of the insurgent groups have established camps in Myanmar and operating from Myanmar’s territory
2. Smuggling of arms (by both land and sea).
3. Drug trafficking and narco-terrorism.
4. Illegal immigration from Yunnan into Northern Myanmar and association of Chinese workers in road construction activities

Bilateral Relations

1948-1962

Relations were friendly and cordial during the days of Prime Minister Nehru and Prime Minister U Nu.  India provided economic and military assistance. Both were members of the Non Aligned Movement.

1962-1988

Relations virtually froze with the military rule under Ne Win adopting an isolationist policy.  Domestic policies including the expulsion of ethnic Indians soured the relations. Myanmar’s anti-Soviet stance strained relations with India being pro-Soviet at that time. Myanmar refused to become a member of the Commonwealth. Indian Consulate in Mandalay had to be closed. Myanmar withdrew from NAM in 1979.

1988-2007

As a result of the sympathy of the Indian government to the pro democracy movement, which started in 1988, the relations were strained.  India had even accommodated a large number of pro democracy refugees in camps in NE India.  All India Radio programmes were criticising the military regime. In 1993 India reversed its stance with a more realistic and pragmatic policy and started engaging the military regime.  Since then the relations have been growing steadily save for a minor hiccup in 1995 when Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nehru Peace Price for International Understanding.  The visit of Maung Aye, Vice Chairman SPDC, the second most powerful leader in the junta, in November 2000, helped the turn round in the relations. There has been all round progress in political, economic and military relations as well as cooperation in technology, HRD, infrastructure, education, space, health and other fields.

2007-2021

• Process of reforms was set in motion after 2007. India’s consistent support for the Myanmar’s authorities in face of the western pressure seems to have borne fruit. The next challenge for Indian diplomacy will be to stake a large slice of the cake that the whole world wants to relish.
• India has opened a consulate at Sittwe in 2013, a sea port on the Myanmar’s flank of the Bay of Bengal, becoming the first country to have three missions in the country. China and India have their embassies in the national capital and consulates in Mandalay.
• Sittwe port, about 550 km from Kolkata, is slated to see considerable Indian activity soon after it becomes the mouth of a maritime-cum-road route to India’s North-East as an alternate to India’s sole link to the region via the congested Siliguri corridor.

2021 onwards

• Military coup occurred in Myanmar. The democratically elected government was overthrown.
• India expressed concern over the military coup but preferred to stay in balance.
• India's concern was that the military coup may hinder the humanitarian assistance extended by India to Myanmar in the wake of COVID-19 and the Rohingya issue.
• In this time, India gave preference to the cultural and friendly ties with Myanmar over international pressure.
• India has been building roads and bridges, schools, and healthcare centres in Myanmar under the India-Myanmar Border Area Development Programme.
• India provides an annual grant of $5 million which has elevated the lives of poor people in around 82 villages in Myanmar.
• India has decided to provide debt service relief under the G-20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative to help Myanmar lower the negative impact of COVID-19.
• In 2021, Myanmar received a remote-controlled, air defence station from India, which is important in improving Myanmar's capability to counter enemy's airborne penetration. Earlier, in 2020, India gifted a submarine to Myanmar.

Border Issues and Management

• The international boundary between the two countries had been formally delimited and demarcated following the boundary agreement on March 10, 1967. India-Myanmar boundary is also an artificial line which is superimposed on the socio-cultural landscape of the borderland. As a result, the boundary line cuts across houses and villages thus dividing several tribes such as the Singphos, Nagas, Kukis, Mizos, etc., and forcing them to reside as citizens of different countries. These tribes, however, refuse to accept the artificial line and continue to maintain strong linkages with their kith and kin across the border. 
• The border traverses a region which is infested with numerous insurgencies. The insurgents have been crossing over to Myanmar to receive training in arms, establish safe havens and re-enter India to carry out subversive attacks.
• Over the years, the India-Myanmar border has become the main conduit for the trafficking of arms and high quality heroin from Myanmar.
• India and Myanmar have regular border post meetings at Moreh-Tamu.  It has been agreed to have four more border posts to facilitate army meetings.  They are at Lungwa (Mon district-Nagaland), Bihang (Churchandpur district-Manipur) and at Sapi and Zokawathar (Mizoram).  A 400 km border with Myanmar is already fenced and is being improved by raising the height.  A stretch of 14 km near the international boundary at Moreh has also been planned to be fenced.  The fencing is important in view of the rampant narcotic trade along the Indo-Myanmar border.

Military To Military Contacts

• As early as in 1995 India and Myanmar armies had conducted a joint military operation (called Golden Bird) against some North Eastern insurgent groups (ULFA, NSCN, PLA, PLF& KNA) though this operation was aborted after Aung San Suu Kyi was awarded the Nehru Peace prize for International Understanding. Myanmar resumed its military operations against the insurgents from Feb 2000 to May 2001. 
• True to the assurances of General Than Shwe  during his visit to India in October 2004, the Myanmar Army had conducted military operations against the Indian insurgents operating in their territory  during December 2005 and again in 2006.
• India and Myanmar held their first ever bilateral naval exercise in the Bay of Bengal in 2013. Subsequently, they would undertake a coordinated patrol in an area close to the Coco islands, to look for unauthorised fishermen, poachers, smugglers and insurgent groups.
• The exercise signals Myanmar’s willingness to enhance level of engagement with India and it follows Defence Minister A K Antony’s visit to Myanmar in January 2013.?

Important Bilateral Agreements

• In 1951 India and Myanmar signed a Treaty of Friendship.
• A boundary agreement between India & Myanmar was signed in 1967.
• Maritime boundary between the two countries was defined by a maritime delimitation agreement in 1986.
• The first Border Trade Agreement was signed in Delhi in 1994.
• India has undertake the task of repair/ upgradation of 71 bridges on the Tamu- Kalewa friendship Road and the upgradation of the Kalewa-Yargyi road segment to highway standard while Myanmar would undertake that of upgradation of the Yargyi-Monywa stretch to highway standard by 2016.  This project would help in establishing trilateral connectivity from Moreh in India to Mae Sot in Thailand via Myanmar.
• Joint Task Force on the Trilateral Highway between India-Myanmar –Thailand has been reestablished for seamless trilateral connectivity by 2016.

Cooperation between India and Myanmar in Regional/Sub-Regional Context  

ASEAN

• ?Myanmar became a member of ASEAN in 1997.  As the only ASEAN country, which shares a land and maritime boundary with India, Myanmar is the gateway to ASEAN.  The Ministry Of External Affairs has indicated that a few proposals for cooperation are under discussion with Myanmar within the framework of ASEAN’s IAI Progamme.  Of these the Myanmar-India Entrepreneurship Development Centre is expected to be launched soon.

Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC)

• Myanmar became a member of BIMSTEC in 1997. 
• BIMSTEC has identified six sectors of cooperation, for each of which a lead country has been designated. 
• Myanmar is the lead country for the energy sector. 
• Myanmar trades mostly with Thailand and India in the BIMSTEC region. 
• Myanmar’s major exports to India are agricultural products like beans, pulses, and maize and forest products such as teak and hardwoods.  Its imports are chemical products, pharmaceuticals, electrical appliances and transport equipment.

Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC)

• Myanmar is a member of the MGC since its inception in 2000. MGC is an initiative by six countries – India and five ASEAN countries namely Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam – for cooperation in the fields of tourism, education, culture, transport and communication.

Forum on Regional Economic Cooperation among Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM)

• The BCIM initiative has attracted much attention in India, as it has the potential to bring three of India’s neighbours closer to a joint pursuit of common prosperity through the increasing use of mechanisms of regional integration.

Challenges to Bilateral Ties

• Insurgency and volatility in north and west Myanmar may derail India’s infrastructure push for regional connectivity which may prove to be a drag on the still unfolding Act East policy.
• Over decades of closer ties with the military junta, China has emerged as the single largest investor in Myanmar. Although the situation appears to reverse under the new regime, still China will remain the most significant player for the time being.
• The rising Buddhist Nationalism in Myanmar is a threat to the already fragile inter-community relations. The persecution and resultant migration of ethnic Rohingyas threaten the stability of Rakhine state, the home to Sittwe and Kaladan projects. It also threatens to compromise the efficacy of BIMSTEC as Bangladesh is bearing the brunt of Rohingya influx.
• Despite successful elections the military still controls key government positions which signify that the democratic transition is still a work in progress.
• The inordinate delay in project execution by Indian agencies undercuts Myanmar’s confidence in Indian capabilities making them susceptible to further Chinese inroads.

Way Forward

• Myanmar’s balanced engagement with China and India on BCIM and BIMSTEC would be central to the strategic balance of power in South East Asia.
• India should forge a bold strategic vision for bilateral relations, taking advantage of the consensus cutting across political parties and civil and military pillars of Myanmar’s polity towards stronger ties with India and project India’s economic and strategic footprint in the region between the Bay of Bengal to the South China Sea.
• Key elements of this vision could be greater attention to emerging political forces, ethnic states and the peace process as part of our democratic political outreach; converting our investments in the Trilateral Highway and the Kaladan (including their expeditious completion) to fuller trade and investment corridors and use Indian investment in the Greater Mekong Sub-region as an arm of our foreign policy with a focus on agriculture, agro-industries and light industry; a broader development partnership reaching to the grassroots with the help of civil society; specific prongs in our ‘Act East’ policy through the Northeast and Bodh Gaya as a pilgrimage centre; and a new political approach to the IIG issue (Indian Insurgent Groups) beyond an intelligence-based approaches.
• Border trade through Tamu/Moreh and Rhi/Zhokhowthar needs to become more formalised with truly single-window clearances and easier currency arrangements. The border haats can energise exchange of local produce. Cross- border bus services can promote people-to-people connectivity. Cross-border trade in services can be boosted in sectors like medicine, diagnostics, or even education and training for which there is a large market.
• Strengthening the border region cooperation project, implemented by India in Myanmar’s Chin and Naga areas, can help India in securing political - and other - support at the local-level in Myanmar. Such development initiatives could also prompt Myanmar to collaborate more in tackling the insurgency issue in Nagaland - particularly in a post-Khaplang scenario.
• Thus with a mix of prudent economic engagement, insightful regional strategic posturing and effective employment of soft power India-Myanmar relation can effectively negotiate with the challenges to forge a sustainable win-win relationship.

Rohingya Issue

• Myanmar has been under severe attack from the international community in recent times for what is being considered as ‘genocide’ against the Rohingya Muslims.
• Considered by the United Nations as the “most persecuted minority group in the world”, the Rohingyas are a stateless group of people concentrated in western Myanmar, and facing brutal assaults from the Burmese state and military. Since October 2016, frequent reports have come in of the Burmese army burning down Rohingya villages, rapes and murders of the nature of ‘ethnic cleansing’.
• Faced with the savagery, about 300,000 Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar have rushed into Bangladesh for refuge. This is not the first time that this group has been seeking shelter from the Bangladeshi government on account of being brutally persecuted at home. Last time a mass exodus of the Rohingyas happened was in 2012 when communal clashes erupted between them and the Rakhine Buddhists who were later represented by the Burmese Army.
• While Bangladesh remains their favourite destination for decades now, they have been seeking out refuge in other neighbouring countries as well. According to a UN report, at present around 5,500 Rohingya refugees have been registered in India and are living in makeshift camps under precarious conditions, though Indian government estimates this figure to be around 40,000.

India’s stand

• Even as Delhi has maintained a cautious stance, it has been receiving Rohingya refugees and allowing them to settle in different parts of the country over the years particularly after the communal violence in Rakhine state in 2012. In December 2012, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid visited Rakhine state and donated $1 milion for relief in the violence hit state.
• But since the renewed conflict in Rakhine over the past few months, the Modi government has unequivocally condemned the terrorist attacks of August 2017 when the security forces and Ms. Suu Kyi herself face heightened international criticism on the handling of the issue.
• Besides, New Delhi announced imminent plans for deportation of 40,000 Rohingya as they were illegal migrants. In the Supreme Court the government refused to revise its stand on deporting Rohinya immigrants in India. It insisted that Rohingyas are illegal immigrants and they will be deported as per law.
• The only concern India has is the stand that would be taken by Myanmar. In the past Myanmar had refused to accept and recognise them as their citizens.
• In a show of solidarity with Myanmar, India dissociated itself from the ‘Bali Declaration’ adoped at the ‘World Parliamentary Forum on Sustainable Development’ held on September 7, 2017. This was because it carried inappropriate reference to the violence in Rakhine State . India reiterated its stance that the purpose of convening the Parliamentary forum was to arrive at a mutual consensus for implementation of SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) which required inclusive and broad-based development processes.
• Not being a signatory to the 1951 United Nations Convention on the Status of Refugees or its 1967 protocol, India would not be in breach of any international law in turning away the Rohingya people. Nor does it have a domestic law for refugees.
• India rejected criticism of its deportation plan by reminding critics that India does not need lessons in compassion as it has taken in hundreds of thousands of refugees in the past.

Criticism of India’s stand over deportation

• India has big power aspirations, and to that end at least, it must act like one. Indian Government’s plans to deport the Rohingya makes India and Indians seem small-minded and insecure, rather than a nation with a long and confident record of compassion towards people seeking safe haven from persecution in their own countries.
• They face the challenge of survival and the prospect of persecution if they return to Myanmar. If we abandon the Rohingya, we abandon the idea of India as a home of refugees and hospitality. A country which offered a home to the Parsis, the Tibetans, the Afghans and the Jews cannot turn a little minority of helpless people back.
• • It weakens India’s moral authority to speak for minorities in other parts of its neighbourhood. Interestingly Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka joined the Bali declaration which India opted out.
• The world does not expect Myanmar’s other big neighbour, China, to be vocal about the atrocities being committed, but as the upholder of democratic values, India has a unique opportunity to demonstrate statesmanship and regional leadership by mediating a solution to the Rohingya crisis on the basis of a report Kofi Annan Committee set up by none other than Ms. Suu Kyi.
• There may be radicalised Rohingya, and the ARSA is said to have links with the Lashkar-e-Toiba. But it is the job of the intelligence and security apparatus to weed out the bad, so that there is no branding of an entire community.

Shift in India’s stand

• However, on September 9, 2017 India expressed its "deep concern" about the situation in Rakhine State and the outflow of refugees from that region and also urged Myanmar to handle the situation with restraint and maturity. New Delhi asked Myanmar to focus on the welfare of the civilian population as well security forces and underlined that it is imperative that violence is ended and normalcy in the State restored expeditiously.
• India’s shift in position on the Myanmar issue, for the first time in recent months, was prompted by a series of requests from the Bangladesh government. The Indian High Commission in Dhaka had shared an assessment about the pressure faced by the Bangladesh government and the need for India to shift its tough stand.
• Concern over the Rohingyas is a humanitarian problem. But that has been overlaid with a security problem given that they are a vulnerable population. Pushing Rohingyas from one country to another will not resolve either of them. The need is for a political solution to the crisis, and improved mechanisms to address the security dimension. In view of some experts, India must lead the way, working with Bangladesh, Myammar, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand.