Myanmar’s Importance for India

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Myanmar in September 2017 was the third by an Indian prime minister in five years, and the second by him in three years, though it was his first bilateral visit.Taken together, these visits underline the importance of Myanmar to India—it is seen as a crucial partner in the fight to end insurgency in India’s north-east, as a gateway to South-East Asia and a key component of Modi’s new vision for South and South-East Asian regional cooperation. It is also a neighbour that is increasingly being wooed by China.

Terrorism

For India, terrorism has been a major security challenge since the mid-1980s. According to Indian intelligence agencies, separatists and insurgents operating in India’s north-east have used Myanmar as a base for their hit-and-run operations against India. India shares a 1,600-km border with Myanmar, and Indian and Myanmar’s militaries have jointly undertaken operations to flush out militants.

Act East

• India also sees Myanmar as a key partner because of its membership of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations or Asean.
• India, Myanmar and Thailand are building the Asian Trilateral Highway, which will connect India to Asean—which groups together Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

BIMSTEC

Myanmar is also a key component of India’s strategy to bridge South and South-East Asia through Bimstec, the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation.