India cannot take a black and white approach to Myanmar

News: Myanmar has seen a lot of political disorder since the military coup in February 2021. The Indian foreign Secretary’s recent visit to Myanmar will help India-Myanmar bilateral relation to adjust to this change. 

India needs to adopt a pragmatic approach. 

What are the new and emerging challenges in the India-Myanmar relations? 

1) Dilemma to engage with Military regime: Since the coup, India has been firm that the gains made by Myanmar over the last decade on the path towards democracy should not be lost. 

Further, any democratic transition in Myanmar cannot be done without involving the Junta, so it is imperative that India keeps all channel of communication open with it.  

2) Most of the countries in India and Myanmar’s neighbourhood like ASEAN members, Japan, Korea etc have started to deeply engage with the military regime in Myanmar and India can’t lag behind.  

3) China’s growing dominance: Ever since the coup, China’s economic grip over Myanmar has only become tighter with a special focus on projects critical for the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor. Hence, India needs to have continuous dialogue with Myanmar keep the security situation in North east under control. 

Chinese capacity to create trouble in the North East was visible recently, from the last month’s deadly attack on an Assam Rifles convoy near the Myanmar border in Manipur. Its increasing influence over Myanmar, only provides with further options to destabilise Indian border areas.

4) Porous borders and Pandemic: India-Myanmar have porous borders at many places. For India, a humanitarian crisis as a result of the pandemic-induced economic crisis in Myanmar can become a major issue. 

Source: This post is based on the article “India cannot take a black and white approach to Myanmar” published in The Indian express on 24^th Dec 2021.