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 India |  Myanmar |
|---|---|
| Diplomatic mission | |
| Embassy of India, Yangon | High Commission of Myanmar,New Delhi |
| Envoy | |
| Ambassador of India to Myanmar Vinay Kumar | Burmese High Commissioner to India Moe Kyaw Aung |
India–Myanmar relations, also known as theIndo–Burmese relations, are thebilateral relations between theRepublic of India and theRepublic of the Union of Myanmar. These relations encompass the political, economic and socio-cultural relations that exist between the two neighboringAsian countries. Political relations have improved considerably since 1993, overcoming tensions related todrug trafficking, the suppression of democracy and the rule of themilitary junta in Myanmar.[1]Political leaders from both countries meet regularly on a bilateral basis and within theASEAN Plus Six community. Economic relations are considerable with India representing Myanmar's 4th largest export market and the country's 5th largest import partner.
The 1,600 km (990 mi)India–Myanmar border separates the Indian states ofMizoram,Manipur,Nagaland andArunachal Pradesh inNortheast India fromKachin State,Sagaing Region andChin State in Myanmar/Burma. In addition to the long land border, India and Myanmar also share a maritime border along India'sAndaman Islands.[2]
 India |  Burma |
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India–Myanmar/Burmese relations date to antiquity and cultural exchanges includedBuddhism and theBurmese script, which was based on the IndianGrantha script. In particular,Theravada Buddhism has tremendously influenced Burmese society and culture for millennia, with around 90% of Burma's population continuing to follow the religion.
TheMeiteis fromManipur,northeast India, introducedpolo andhockey in the Burmese court.[3] They introduced the science ofastrology to the Burmese and the rest of theSouth East Asians.[4]
When Burmese KingAlaungpaya invadedSiam (Thailand), he had 500Manipuri (Meitei) horsemen with him.Meitei Brahmins worked asastrologers andpriests for the Burmese royalties.[5]
Myanmar (formerly Burma) wasmade a province of British India by British rulers and again separated in 1937. It was inJapanese-occupied Burma thatIndian nationalistSubhas Chandra Bose delivered his "Give me blood and I will give you freedom!" slogan, andPrime MinisterNarendra Modi highlighted Burma's role in the Indian independence movement.[6]
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India |  Burma |
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India established diplomatic relations after Myanmar's independence fromBritain in 1948. For many years, Indo-Burmese relations were strong due to Myanmar previously having been a province of India, due to cultural links, flourishing commerce, common interests in regional affairs and the presence of a significantIndian community in Myanmar.[2] India provided considerable support when Myanmar struggled with regionalinsurgencies. However, the overthrow of the democratic government by theMilitary of Myanmar led to strains in ties. Along with much of the world, India condemned the suppression of democracy and Myanmar ordered theexpulsion of theBurmese Indian community, increasing its ownisolation from the world.[2][7] OnlyChina maintained close links with Myanmar while India supported thepro-democracy movement.[2][8][9]
A major breakthrough occurred in 1987 when the then-Indian Prime MinisterRajiv Gandhi visited Myanmar, but relations worsened after the military junta'sreaction towards pro-democracy movements in 1988, which resulted in an influx of Burmese refugees into India.[2][8] However, since 1993 the governments of theIndian Prime MinistersP. V. Narasimha Rao andAtal Bihari Vajpayee changed course and began to establish warmer relations between the two nations, as part of a wider foreign policy of increasing India's participation and influence inSoutheast Asia, in light of the growing influence of the People's Republic of China, an India-Myanmar joint operation destroyed several militant camps of Arakan Army on the Indo-Myanmar border.The action averted a possible threat to the ambitious Kaladan transit and transport project which is important for improving the connectivity in the Northeast.Myanmar is important for India because of the geographic, historical, cultural and economic linkages/ties that span centuries as well as for the overall development of North-Eastern Indian states. India and Myanmar relationship officially got underway after the Treaty of Friendship was signed in 1951.[dubious –discuss].[2][unreliable source?][8][9]
In September 2024, theIndian Council of World Affairs invited representatives of theNational Unity Government of Myanmar,Arakan Army,Chin National Front, andKachin Independence Army to participate in a mid-November seminar on "Constitutionalism and Federalism." It is currently unknown whether theSAC junta was invited to this seminar.[10] India also took part in the Wilmington Declaration with Japan, the United States, and Australia to discourage the flow of jet fuel and other military items to the SAC junta.[11]
India isBurma's 4th largest trading partner afterThailand,China andSingapore, and second largest export market after Thailand, absorbing 25 percent of its total exports.[12] India is also the seventh most important source of Burma's imports. The governments of India and Myanmar had set a target of achieving $1 billion and bilateral trade reached US$1.3 billion by 2017.[12] The Indian government has worked to extend air, land and sea routes to strengthen trade links with Myanmar and establish a gas pipeline.[8][12] While the involvement of India's private sector has been low and growing at a slow pace, both governments are proceeding to enhance cooperation inagriculture,telecommunications,information technology,steel,oil,natural gas,hydrocarbons andfood processing.[8][12] Thebilateral border trade agreement of 1994 provides for border trade to be carried out from three designated border points, one each inManipur,Mizoram andNagaland.[12]
On 13 February 2001 India and Myanmar inaugurated 250 kilometre Tamu-Kalewa-Kalemyo highway, popularly called theIndo-Myanmar Friendship Road, built mainly by theIndian Army'sBorder Roads Organisation and aimed to provide a major strategic and commercial transport route connectingNorth-East India, andSouth Asia as a whole, toSoutheast Asia.[2]
India and Myanmar have agreed to a 4-lane, 3200 km triangular highway connectingIndia,Myanmar andThailand. The route, which is expected to have completed during 2016, runs from India's northeastern states into Myanmar, where over 1,600 km of roads were built or improved.
The route begins fromGuwahati in India and connects toMandalay inMyanmar, route continues toYangon inMyanmar and then toMae Sot inThailand, which then continues toBangkok.
India is undertaking two sections of the Trilateral Highway namely, (i) construction of Kalewa-Yagyi road section in Myanmar, and (ii) construction of 69 bridges on the Tamu-Kyigone-Kalewa (TKK) road section in Myanmar. The work on both these sections has been awarded on Engineering, Procurement and Construction mode and is underway since May 2018 for Kalewa-Yagyi section and November 2017 for the TKK section.[13]
The first phase connectingGuwahati toMandalay will eventually be extended toCambodia andVietnam underMekong-Ganga Cooperation within the wider framework ofAsian Highway Network. This is aimed at creating a neweconomic zone ranging fromKolkata on theBay of Bengal toHo Chi Minh City on theSouth China Sea.[14]
TheKaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project will connect the eastern Indian seaport ofKolkata withSittwe seaport inMyanmar by sea; it will then linkSittwe seaport toLashio inMyanmar viaKaladan river boat route and then fromLashio on toMizoram inIndia by road transport. The project was scheduled to be completed by 2014 according toGovernor of MizoramVakkom Purushothaman.,[15] but there have been delays and the project was completed till the road component fromLashio toMizoram, the project was again expected to be finished by December 2023 but was again slowed due to security problems in Myanmar .[16][17]
During a 2017 visit toNay Pyi Taw,Prime Minister Modi announced that India would offer gratis/no-costvisas to all Myanmar citizens visiting India.[18][19]
India's move to forge close relations with Myanmar are motivated by a desire to counterChina's growing influence as a regional leader[dubious –discuss] and enhance its own influence and standing.[2][8][20] Concerns and tensions increased in India over China's extensive military involvement in developing ports, naval and intelligence facilities and industries, specifically the upgrading of a naval base inSittwe, a major seaport located close to the eastern Indian city ofKolkata.[2] India's engagement of the Burmese military junta has helped ease the regime'sinternational isolation and lessen Burma's reliance on China.[2] Both nations sought to cooperate to counteract drug trafficking and insurgent groups operating in the border areas.[8] India and Myanmar are leading members ofBIMSTEC and theMekong-Ganga Cooperation, along withVietnam,Laos,Cambodia andThailand, helping India develop its influence and ties amongstSoutheast Asian nations.[2]
In 2013, India provided a loan of about US$500million.[21] toMyanmar for its development; India and Myanmar have also agreed to cooperate militarily in order to help modernize Myanmar's military.[citation needed]
In 2020, India gifted theMyanmar Navy its first ever submarine, akilo class (INS Sindhuvir) attack submarine which has been refurbished and modernised byHindustan Shipyard Limited.[22]
Indian and Myanmar troops carried out jointlyOperation Sunrise in 2019 in their respective territories to destroy several insurgent camps. However the threat to theKaladan multi-modal transit transport project, India's gateway toSoutheast Asia continues.[23] In January 2023 operations by theMyanmar Air Force in a sparsely populated area along the border were carried out; proximity of local populations resulted in their disquiet.[24][25]
India has also supported Myanmar in its efforts to combat Rohingya insurgent groups like theArakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and Aqa Mul Mujahideen (AMM),[26][27] after Indian intelligence agencies found the ARSA and AMM to have links with terror groups like theLashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) andJaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) as well as reported Rohingya terrorists fighting alongside Pakistani extremists in Kashmir.[28]
India responded promptly and effectively in rendering assistance after natural disaster in Myanmar such as the earthquake in Shan state (2010),Cyclone Mora (2017),Cyclone Komen (2015), and notably for2025 Myanmar earthquake underOperation Brahma. India offered to help in capacity building indisaster risk mitigation as well as strengthening Myanmar's National Disaster Response Mechanism.
India granted 1.7 million COVID-19 vaccines to Myanmar in the months of January and February 2021.[29]
India was hesitant in reacting to the2007 Burmese anti-government protests that had drawn overwhelming international condemnation.[20] India also declared that it had no intention of interfering in Burma's internal affairs and that theBurmese people would have to achievedemocracy by themselves as it respects the sovereignty of Myanmar.[8] This low-key response has been widely criticised both within India and abroad as weakening India's credentials as a leading democratic nation.[2][8][20]
In contrast to much of the international community,Prime Minister Modi declined to criticizeSuu Kyi's handling of the2016–17 Northern Rakhine State clashes or Myanmar's government's treatment of itsRohingya people.[30][31]
India also announced plans todeport its Rohingya refugee population. Minister of State for Home AffairsKiren Rijiju described the refugees as "illegal immigrants", echoing the Myanmar government position.[32][33] Although the Rohingya have fought deportation in the Indian courts (partly on humanitarian grounds), in September 2017 the Indian government responded that India did not sign the1951 Refugee Convention and most Rohingya arrived in India before the August 2017 violence. Some Indian media have reported that the country's intelligence agencies suspect militant Royhinga leaders of conspiring with Pakistani terrorists and planning to incite violence in India.[34]
Emphasising Myanmar's value in India's freedom struggle, Prime Minister Modi said that this is the sacred land from where Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose gave the slogan of 'give me blood and I will give you freedom'.
"I am pleased to announce that we have decided to grant gratis (no-cost) visa to all the citizens of Myanmar who want to visit India," Prime Minister Modi said.
Police across India have been instructed by New Delhi to step up surveillance of Rohingya or anyone suspected of being from the minority as a preparatory step. "They are illegal immigrants in India," Kiren Rijiju, minister of state for home affairs, told reporters last week. "As per law, they stand to be deported."
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