By Business India Editorial

India finds itself in a familiar situation after Myanmar reverted to military rule following a coup. With the West, led by the new US administration, pushing for sanctions against the country, and China finding itself on the horns of a dilemma, New Delhi may have the luxury of not coming out openly in favour of democracy and compromising its security and developmental interests. Reacting formally to the development, India has refrained from using the word ‘coup’ and stressed that the ‘rule of law and the democratic process must be upheld’. However, it may not be that bad for India in the days ahead; and China’s predicament is worse than that of India. The most curious headline about the coup came from an English article in China’s state news agency Xinhua. Calling it a ‘major cabinet reshuffle’, Beijing urged all parties to ‘properly handle their differences’ and ‘maintain political and social stability’.

The events unfolded in Myanmar on 1 February, just when the Union budget was being presented in Indian Parliament. Tatmadaw (Myanmar’s military) detained Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other senior political leaders of the ruling National League for Democracy party in Naypyitaw and slapped a ‘state of emergency’ for one year. For a long time now, our foreign office was considering Myanmar as India’s ‘bridgehead to Southeast Asia’. India is even building the Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project, considered its gateway to Southeast Asia. Having components of waterways and roadways, the trans-border connectivity project for the north-eastern states is coming up under the Act East Policy. The waterways component of the project was completed in 2017, but the physical progress of the road component is lagging behind schedule. 

Another project India has completed in the insurgency-hit state of Rakhine in Myanmar is Sittwe deepwater port. The port is actually a part of the Kaladan multi-modal project. Once operational, it will link the land-locked Northeast to the Bay of Bengal through Mizoram. A special economic zone is to come up at Sittwe.

India has also undertaken the 1,360-km India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway. The project starts from Moreh in Manipur to Mae Sot in Thailand via Bagan in Myanmar. India has agreed to help build two vital road sections – Kalewa-Yagyi of 120 km, and 69 bridges on the Tamu-Kyigone-Kalewa (TKK).  

In the past, India and Myanmar troops have carried out joint operations to eliminate insurgents. They jointly conducted Operation Sunrise and Operation Sunrise 2 in 2019 in their respective territories to destroy several insurgent camps manned by northeast insurgents. Indian troops in turn have supported Myanmar in its efforts to combat Rohingya insurgent groups like the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and Aqa Mul Mujahideen (AMM). Indian intelligence agencies have found the ARSA and AMM to have links with terror groups like the Lashkar-e-Taida and Jaish-e-Mohammed, as well as reported Rohingya terrorists fighting alongside Pakistani extremists in Kashmir. Some of the Arakan rebels also have links with Beijing.