Two years of Myanmar coup

Two years of Myanmar coup

Subject : International Relations

Sections: India’s neighbours

Concept :

• India and Myanmar relationship officially got underway after the Treaty of Friendship was signed in 1951, after which the foundation for a more meaningful relationship was established during Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s visit in 1987.
• India and Myanmar have traditionally had much in common, with cultural, historical, ethnic, and religious ties, in addition to sharing a long geographical land border and maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal.

Geo-Strategic Location of Myanmar:

• Myanmar is geopolitically significant to India as it stands at the center of the India-Southeast Asia geography.
• Myanmar is the only Southeast Asian country that shares a land border with northeastern India, stretching some 1,624 kilometers.
• The two countries also share a 725-km maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal.
• Irrawady river that flows from north to south through Myanmar (Burma). It is the country’s largest river and most important commercial waterway.

Confluence of Two Foreign Policy Doctrines:

• Myanmar 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.
• Myanmar is the member of both Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which is an organization of East Asian nations as well as Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) which bridges South and South-East Asia.

Indian Projects in Myanmar

• India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway
• A number of infrastructure projects are underway. This includes the Trilateral Highway which will eventually connect India to Thailand through Myanmar.
• Kaladan Multimodal Project
• The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project was jointly identified by the India and Myanmar to create a multi-modal mode of transport for shipment of cargo from the eastern seaport of India to Myanmar and to the North-Eastern part of India through Myanmar.
• This project connects Sittwe Port in Myanmar to the India-Myanmar border, is expected to contribute to the economic development of the North-Eastern States of India.

• It is also an alternate route to India’s North-East bypassing the Siliguri Corridor.
• Projects in Rakhine State
• India had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Myanmar for improving the socio economic condition of the people belonging to Myanmar’s Rakhine state under the aegis of Rakhine State Development Programme.