As civil war engulfs Myanmar, what should be India’s approach?

Guwahati: Myanmar, also known as Burma and  Brahmadesh has been witnessing a civil war for over three years now, where the military personnel continue targeting the civilian population and in return, the armed groups of people, besides the ethnic insurgents, are fighting both the men in uniform as well as their family members.

The Burmese junta’s ongoing war of terror against Myanmar’s people killed thousands of common people and forced nearly 70,000 individuals to seek refuge in our country as well as in Thailand and Bangladesh since the military coup was engineered on 1 February 2021. 

A large number of Myanmar refugees have been sent back to Myanmar in the recent past.

It’s reported that from 16 June to 3 July this year, 66 Myanmar refugees, detained in Manipur, conducted a hunger strike demanding their immediate and safe release as they remained detained despite having completed their sentences and paid their fines.

The strike was temporarily suspended in anticipation of a decision from the Union government in New Delhi.

Now demands have been raised by various Burmese bodies that India, being the largest democracy on Earth, should stop aiding and abetting the junta’s international crimes rather New Delhi should support the collective will & efforts of Myanmar people to build an inclusive federal democracy after dismantling the military tyranny.

Going forward, India must immediately cut all ties with the junta meaning to end all engagements and economic ties including development projects, cross-border payment mechanisms and banking assistance swiftly.

The activists also added that all Indian companies—both public and private—should stop doing business with the junta. The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar in May 2023 reported that India is the junta’s third biggest source of arms, supplying USD 51 million worth of related materials, since February 2021.

They opined that any money, arms or technical assistance from New Delhi to NayPieTaw (capital of Myanmar) only enabled the junta’s atrocities on their own people.

A few days back, over 300 revolutionary and civil society groups, urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to exclude the military junta from various  ASEAN meetings and events.

They insisted that the people of Myanmar should be represented by their democratically elected leaders (read National Unity Government)  in all ASEAN meets.

ALTSEAN-Burma (Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma) in its recent statement said that as of last month, there were at least 35,264 armed clashes and attacks against civilians since the coup took place.

The junta troops continued their violent crimes and at least 2,914,400 people were displaced.

Recently an influential civil rights body named Justice for Myanmar claimed that the Indian Air Force and many state-owned enterprises continued to support the junta with military equipment, infrastructure, and also training.

In January 2024, its air force shipped defence goods to a junta air base, likely in connection with the 15 Indian air force personnel deployed in Myanmar to install meteorological instruments, the rights body stated, adding ‘a large majority of the identified Indian companies (which are public sector undertakings) supplying arms and equipment to the junta further demonstrates New Delhi’s complicity in the junta engineered crimes’.

But can New Delhi abandon the junta abruptly as India has maintained strategic and business interests in the neighbouring country for decades?

Myanmar shares a border of 1,600 kilometre with our region and the country is an important entity to deal with various issues like connectivity, trade & commerce as well as counter-terrorism initiatives. Needless to mention various north-eastern militants have been taking shelter in northern Myanmar for decades and waging a war against New Delhi for demands ranging from autonomy to self-rule.

Moreover, the Burmese military regime cannot be ignored if New Delhi aims to prevent increasing Chinese influences as Beijing allegedly arms and finances both the military junta and some ethnic militant outfits.

The delayed construction and opening of the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project has already emerged as a burden to India, which was projected as a major development initiative inside Myanmar with an aim to connect northeast India with a Burmese seaport (Sittwe in Rakhine State).

Moreover, the construction of a Myanmar-India-Thailand highway is also on the card. New Delhi prefers a stable Myanmar regime under the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation. 

A sensitive and complicated task for New Delhi indeed!