FOREIGN POLICY-INDIA AND MYANMAR RELATIONS

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India, Myanmar signed four agreements to boost bilateral cooperation

Myanmar that is located south of Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh in Northeast India acts as a bridge that connects India with South East Asia.

India and Myanmar on 28 August 2016 signed four Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance cooperation and bilateral relations between the two countries.

The pacts were inked after delegation level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting President of Myanmar U Htin Kyaw in New Delhi. President Kyaw was on a four day visit to India from 27 August to 30 August 2016.

The four agreements signed include

• MoU on cooperation in the construction of 69 Bridges including AP Aproach Roads in the Tamu-Kyigone-Kalewa Road Section of the Trilateral Highway in Myanmar.

• MoU on cooperation in the construction / upgradation of the Kalewa – Yagyi Road Section.

• MoU on cooperation in the Field of Renewable Energy.

• MoU on cooperation in the field of Traditional Systems of Medicine.

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INDIA AND MYANMAR RELATIONS

Myanmar is one of India's strategic neighbours and shares a 1,640-km-long border with a number of northeastern states including militancy-hit Nagaland and Manipur. India-Myanmar relations are rooted in shared historical, ethnic, cultural and religious ties. As the land of Lord Buddha, India is a country of pilgrimage for the people of Myanmar. India and Myanmar relations have stood the test of time.

The geographical proximity of the two countries has helped develop and sustain cordial relations and facilitated people-to people contact. India and Myanmar share a long land border of over 1600 km and a maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal. A large population of Indian origin lives in Myanmar.

Why Myanmar so significant for India?

Myanmar is pivotal for India’s regional north-east and foreign Asean policy. Both countries share a heritage of religious, linguistic and ethnic ties. Further, Myanmar is our gateway to South East Asia and ASEAN with which we are seeking greater economic integration through India’s 'Look East' and ‘Act East’ Policy.

Myanmar also offers us an alternative access route to the Northeast. Four North-Eastern States viz. Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram share international boundary with Myanmar.

Historical and cultural ties:

Myanmar (formerly Burma) was made a province of British India by British rulers and again separated in 1937. India established diplomatic relations after Myanmar's independence from Great Britain 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 significant Indian community in Myanmar.

India provided considerable support when Myanmar struggled with regional insurgencies. However, the overthrow of the democratic government by the Military of Myanmar led to strains in ties.

Along with much of the world, India condemned the suppression of democracy and Myanmar ordered the expulsion of the Burmese Indian community, increasing its own isolation from the world.

India had long historical relationship with Myanmar since antiquity; cultural exchanges included Buddhism and the Burmese script, which was based off the Indian Grantha script.
India and Myanmar share close cultural ties. There is a deep sense of kinship, particularly amongst the Buddhist community, given India’s association with the Buddha’s life.
In particular, Theravada Buddhism has tremendously influenced Burmese society and culture for millennia, with 90% continuing to follow the religion to this day.

Commercial and Trade ties:

Commercial cooperation is another area of focus. India and Myanmar signed a trade agreement in 1970. Bilateral trade has been growing steadily reaching USD 1571.95 million in 2014-15 and India is the fourth largest trade partner of Myanmar but trade remains below potential.

Agriculture sector dominates bilateral trade. Myanmar is the second largest supplier of beans and pulses to India and Timber and wood products. India’s exports to Myanmar include pharmaceuticals products, steel & iron products, electrical machinery, Mineral oil, Rubber and articles, plastics etc.

Most of India’s investments have been in the oil and gas sector. Indian companies have evinced interest in investing in Myanmar and major contracts have been won by Indian companies.  More facilitative environment that includes greater air, sea and road connectivity options would give a fillip to the cooperation. Cooperation in banking sector is crucial for investment and trade.

Mechanisms such as Joint Trade Committee, Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement and Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement and other technical level committee on trade have contributed significantly in strengthening trade and investment relations. Myanmar is an important partner in strengthening our energy security.

Probabilities and Possibilities:

-->Myanmar as a nation is struggling to make democratic culture take root in its country. It believes that India with its nation building experience so similar to Myanmar can help this Endeavour.

Myanmar is building a very young democracy and India is helping it, especially with capacity building of its legislators to make sure rule of law is established in the country via parliamentary rules, procedures and practices as well as in managing Union-State/Region relations, allocation of powers and resources between the Union and States etc.

-->Both countries have called for the expeditious finalization of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism presently being negotiated in the United Nations and Myanmar is positively believed to back India’s stand against any terrorist front.

-->Myanmar is also India’s bridge to the larger Asean market and an integral part of India’s "act east policy". The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, which will open the waterways for transport of goods in the region, forms an important part of connectivity aims. The trilateral Asian highway is also nearing completion.

-->Apart from supply of pulses, possibilities of energy supply from offshore blocks in Myanmar and business opportunities that emerging from an opening economy underpin our future bilateral relations.

-->On maritime security, both countries have agreed on Maritime Security Cooperation in the Bay of Bengal and by extending cooperation in the Indian Ocean region too, both countries have the potential to develop an alternate inter-portal trade route via Bay of Bengal.

-->Myanmar is an important partner in strengthening our energy security. Having an enormous potential in untapped energy sources like oil and mineral exploration, Myanmar offer a cheap and efficient prospect for our exploration policies.

-->On regional cooperation under SAARC, BIMSTEC, India and Myanmar both have the roots to write a new chapter in Asean connectivity and develop a regional hub of Buddhist tourism for all. The trans-border connected road of India-Myanmar-Thailand is a welcome step in this regard.

Conclusion:

In these initial years of democratization of Myanmar, India has an instrument role to play as its expected of India to foster it’s legacy and experiences on nation building via constitution and institution building capacity.

Myanmar is India’s land bridge to Southeast Asia. Besides being our closest Southeast Asian neighbor, Myanmar’s importance in India’s foreign policy is marked by its long porous international border with Northeast India, India’s quest for connectivity with East Asia, India’s search for alternative sources of energy, and its economic linkages with the region.
With the renewed emphasis on India’s ‘Act East’ policy, the bilateral relations between these two countries are expected to gain exponential credentials.

India and Myanmar: A New Phase

India and Myanmar signed a Treaty of Friendship in 1951. The visit of the Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1987 laid the foundations for a stronger relationship between India and Myanmar.

Recent Interactions:

The year 2016 has written a new historic chapter in Myanmar’s political regime, nearly half a decade old military rule ended when the National League of Democracy came to power with a watershed win of more than 72% majority.

This new pro – democratic Political stand has provided India with an impeccable opportunity to foster bilateral ties with its only Southeastern Asian border sharing country-Myanmar. As Myanmar embarks on a journey of democracy and development, India assured it of unstinted support as the two traditionally close neighbors agreed to enhance ties in a range of areas including security and trade.

India wants its projects to touch the lives of ordinary citizens of the Myanmar and hence agriculture will now plays a major role in India’s development plans for example the proposal to develop a Seed Production Centre in Myanmar to improve the quality of seeds.

Tourism is another major sector where the real potential between of both historically and culturally rich connected countries is still tapped.
For India, Myanmar is of strategic importance as it borders its sensitive North Eastern states. The two countries share a 1,600 km-long border and have agreed that a close coordination to ensure security in the areas along its border that serves the interests of both our countries. The two sides decided to ramp up border vigilance.

In September 2017, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi completed his first bilateral visit to Myanmar. During the visit, both the countries signed  11 agreements signed in a range of sectors including one on maritime security cooperation to further strengthen their multifaceted partnership. The agreements were signed following delegation-level talks headed by Narendra Modi and Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi at Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar.

Highlights of the 11 Agreements

• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Election Commission of India and Union Election of Myanmar.

• An MoU was signed on cooperation between Myanmar Press Council and the Press Council of India.

• Both the sides signed an agreement for cultural exchange programme for the years 2017 to 2020.

• Two MoUs were signed on establishment of the India-Myanmar Centre for Enhancement of IT Skill and the Myanmar Institute of Information Technology (MIIT).

• Two other MoUs were signed on medical products regulation and in the field of health and medicine.

• Another MoU was signed on enhancing cooperation for upgrade of the Women’s Police Training Centre at Yamethin, Myanmar.

• The two sides also signed an agreement for sharing white shipping information to improve data sharing on non-classified merchant navy ships or cargo ships.

• An MoU on Maritime Security Cooperation was also signed.

• A Technical Agreement was signed between both the sides for providing Coastal Surveillance System.

Probable Questions:

Q1. Myanmar is a key partner for India for the successful execution of the Act East Policy. Elaborate.

Q2. Examine recent developments in India-Myanmar relations against the backdrop of the Rohnigya Crisis.

Q3. “Myanmar is pivotal for India in interregional as well as intercontinental connectivity” Comment.
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Rohingya Crisis and Its Genesis

The situation in Rakhinhe state of Myanmar has worsened now and the Rohingya Muslims have been forced to take shelter in squalid refugee camps. Thousands of refugees have moved to neighbour countries like Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, etc. but some of the countries have refused to provide shelter to Rohingya including India.

Who are the Rohingya?

The Rohingya, a Muslim ethnic-minority group lived for centuries in the Buddhist majority Myanmar. The population of Rohingya at present is around 1.1 million who live in the South Asian country. They are often termed as the "world's most persecuted minority". They speak Rohingya or Ruaingga, a dialect that is different from others in Rakhine State and throughout the whole country. They are not even considered as one of the parts of 135 officially declared ethnic groups of Myanmar and have been denied the status of citizenship in the country since 1982. They are stateless but the question is where the Rohingyas came from?

According to the historians, Rohingya Muslims have lived in the area since as early as the 12th century, while the Arakan Rohingya National Organisation (ARNO) says Rohingyas are living in Arakan (now known as Rakhine) from time immemorial.

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the significant amount of migration of labourers from Burma, now known as Myanmar came from India and Bangladesh during more than 100 years of the British rule. Since then, such migration of labourers was considered as the internal migration because Myanmar was one of the provinces of India administered by the British. But after Burmese independence in 1948, it has become one of the major reasons of disturbance in the region where the majority of the native population and even the government considered such migration which was happened before independence as illegal and void. On this basis, the citizenship of Rohingyas has been denied.

Cause of Rohingya Muslim’s Persecution

Majorly, the media have highlighted the dire situation of Rohingya Muslim’s fleeing persecution, but failed to identify the actual reason for their persecution. The ethnic group has become the prime target of the violence perpetrated by both the state as well as Buddhist nationalists. The Rakhinhe State, the epicentre of the conflict, has Buddhist as a majority in groups and Rohingya Muslims as a minority.

The first reason is the toxic mixture of historical centre-territorial disputes, the existence of serious inter-communal and inter-religious conflict with ethnic Muslim minority communities, and extreme poverty and under-development of such groups.

Second, a number of discrimination by the Myanmar government itself imposed on the ethnic minority group through restrictions like family planning, marriage, language, employment education, religious choice and freedom of movement for the livelihood. In the northern towns of Maungdaw and Buthidaung, Rohingya couples are allowed to have only two children and before marriage, they must get approval from the state authority. Without the state approval, they cannot move outside of their actual township.

Third, during the violence broke out in 2012, Rohingya men were accused of raping and killing Buddhist women. As a revenge, the Buddhist nationalists responded by burning Rohingya homes, killing more than 280 people and displacing tens of thousands, later, which was termed as the “crimes against humanity” by Human Right Watch (HRW).

The situation in Rakhinhe has worsened now and the Rohingya Muslims have been forced to take shelter in squalid refugee camps. Thousands of refugees have moved to neighbour countries like Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, etc. but some of the countries have refused to provide shelter to Rohingya including India.  As per the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), 123,000 Rohingya refugees have fled western Myanmar since August 25, 2017. In India, as per the Ministry of Home Affairs, around 40000 Rohingya Muslims have sheltered in India, while about 16,500 Rohingya living in India is registered with the UNHCR.

Aung San Suu Kyi on Rohingya Crisis

In her recent address, Myanmar's de-facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi has said her government does not fear "international scrutiny" of its handling of the growing Rohingya crisis. This was her first address on the Rohingya issue and she faces global criticism of her response to the crisis. During her speech in the Myanmar's parliament, said she felt "deeply" for the suffering of "all people" in the conflict, and that Myanmar was "committed to a sustainable solution… for all communities in this state".

After her address, the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva called for full access to the region under violence so it can investigate the actual situation "with its own eyes".

Why would the Rohingya refugees lead to “social unrest” in India?

The Indian government has stated its stand on deportation of Rohingya Muslims refugees from India. The government has said that the stay of Rohingya refugees would create a “social unrest” in the country referring one of the report of the United Nations (UN) in which UN has termed the Muslim people who are fleeing Myanmar to escape as ethnic cleansing. The Central government has presented an affidavit in the Supreme Court on 18 September 2017 on the issue and told the apex court that there are enough intelligence inputs regarding Rohingya refugees’ assertiveness with Pakistan’s ISI and Islamic State operatives thrown into the mix. The illegal immigrants have "a serious security threat to the country" and it has become a witches' brew of terrorism and Pan-Islamic terrorism.

Indian government’s submission at the Supreme Court makes the picture clear that it does not wish to compromise on national security concern and they will not provide shelter for Rohingya refugees. The Government also promised the court that they will provide enough evidence regarding terrorist elements among the Rohingya are active in Delhi, Hyderabad, Mewar and Jammu.

Rohingya refugees are spread across six locations in India — Jammu, Nuh in Haryana’s Mewat district, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur and Chennai.

Conclusion

The Rohingya crisis has become a global issue and it must be solved irrespective of any political and religious aspects. It is a matter of more humanitarian crisis than a political and religious conflict. When it comes to the Indian government, India can play a major role to mitigate with the Myanmar government and to solve it as early. On the other hand, for India, it looks more feasible to identify the people with terror links among 40000 Rohingya refugees than deport back them to the conflict area.