India-Myanmar news and discussion

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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

Post by A_Gupta »

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/03/3 ... RP20150331
Indian oil and gas major Reliance Industries said on Tuesday it had signed an agreement with Myanmar for a production sharing contract for two offshore blocks.

Reliance will be the operator of the blocks with a 96 percent participating interest while United National Resources Development Services Co. Ltd, a Myanmar company, will hold the remaining stake.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

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http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/mya ... 72011.html
Myanmar officially apologised on Thursday for a cross-border aerial bombing that left five Chinese citizens dead last month, Beijing`s foreign ministry said.

Myanmar`s foreign minister Wunna Maung Lwin offered his remorse as a special envoy of President Thein Sein during talks with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Beijing, the ministry said in a statement.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

Post by vijaykarthik »

Myanmar recently had a deal with govt and NCCT on a possible nationwide ceasefire agreement. However, Kokang didn't participate and fighting still happens there.

I couldn't check on whats up on Rakhine / Kachin. Does anyone know?
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

Post by A_Gupta »

^^^ vijaykarthik, nothing has popped up on my news-feeds.
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http://www.business-standard.com/articl ... 913_1.html
National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX), India’s largest agri centric commodity futures trading platform, might ink a pact with Myanmar International Commodity Exchange (MICEX). Under the tie up, NCDEX will provide technical assistance MICEX

“India has successfully developed a transparent commodity market over the last 10 years with state of the art trading mechanism. We approached NCDEX seeking technical assistance from them so that our exchange can also be established and trading activities commenced effectively,” said Sein Win Hlaing, honorary chairman, MICEX.

The recently launched MICEX is pioneered by one of India’s largest commodities trading firm Pearl Group. MICEX has been looking for extensive participation from Indian firms to exploit hidden opportunities in Myanmar.

Confirming the development, Samir Shah, managing director of NCDEX, said: “They have approached us. We will think and decide in the due course.”
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

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http://e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=1..090415.apr15
mphal, April 08 2015 : Secretary of Border Management and Chairman of Land Post Authority of India today convened a meeting with State Govt officials here today to ensure completion of Integrated Check Post (ICP) being constructed at border town, Moreh in Chandel district, by next year.

At the same time, as a measure to appease Myanmar which has been claiming a portion of land as their territory at Moreh, the meeting today discussed the possibility of ceding the same size of land located at some other place along the Indo-Myanmar border.
...
...
After deliberating the dispute with Myanmar over its claim of a portion of land as belonging to theirs, the meeting discussed ceding of the same size of land to Myanmar in other parts of the border area in order to settle the matter.

However, the meeting has not taken a concrete decision on the matter as it comes under the purview of the Ministry of External Affairs.

It may be mentioned here that the Ministry of External Affairs had earlier decided to cede Charoi Khullen area to Myanmar.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

Post by vijaykarthik »

Finally got my answer. KIA indeed wasn't a signatory to the ceasefire.

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns ... epage=true
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

Post by vijaykarthik »

Just in case: the ceasefire is still only in draft state. Will be a long time before its accepted and eventually signed
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

Post by chandrasekhar.m »

A_Gupta wrote:http://e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=1..090415.apr15
mphal, April 08 2015 : Secretary of Border Management and Chairman of Land Post Authority of India today convened a meeting with State Govt officials here today to ensure completion of Integrated Check Post (ICP) being constructed at border town, Moreh in Chandel district, by next year.

At the same time, as a measure to appease Myanmar which has been claiming a portion of land as their territory at Moreh, the meeting today discussed the possibility of ceding the same size of land located at some other place along the Indo-Myanmar border.
...
...
After deliberating the dispute with Myanmar over its claim of a portion of land as belonging to theirs, the meeting discussed ceding of the same size of land to Myanmar in other parts of the border area in order to settle the matter.

However, the meeting has not taken a concrete decision on the matter as it comes under the purview of the Ministry of External Affairs.

It may be mentioned here that the Ministry of External Affairs had earlier decided to cede Charoi Khullen area to Myanmar.
From above, can Ministry of External Affairs (the executive) give away Indian territory? I thought that required the approval of the legislature.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

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http://www.indiagazette.com/index.php/sid/232130509
Fighting intensified over the weekend amid a major offensive against ethnic Kokang insurgents in northeast Myanmar near the Chinese border, amid reports that more Myanmar government shells have fallen on the Chinese side of the border near Nansan, local residents said on Monday.

"The fighting carried on into the night last night, with shelling going on after it got dark," an ethnic Kokang resident on the outskirts of the regional capital Laukkai told RFA.

"[On Sunday, some shells] landed on the Chinese side of the border," he said. "The People's Liberation Army (PLA) soldiers are hugging the southern side of the hills there, but they dare not go to investigate the shelling, because they are worried about getting wounded in the crossfire."

He added: "After we had breakfast this morning, we heard some more shelling, and an aircraft came."

Myanmar's national army recently launched an offensive against the ethnic Kokang Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA), which launched a bid to retake the rugged and mountainous region of Shan State on Feb. 9, after losing a similar regional conflict in 2009.

"The Myanmar military has announced that the Kokang region is totally occupied by the military, but the fighting is still going on, a local resident who lives along the Myanmar-China border told RFA's Myanmar Service.

"There was fighting the whole day yesterday and that fighting was the worst one yet," he said.

Nearly 130 soldiers from the government army have been killed and about 360 injured, China's Xinhua News Agency reported.

On the Chinese side of the border, residents of Nansan township in the southwestern province of Yunnan said they could hear continual shelling since the fighting intensified.

"The fighting got extremely fierce last night, and we could hear the shelling into the night from our homes on the top of the hill," a Nansan resident said on Monday.

"But if any of the shells fell on the Chinese side of the border in Nansan, the government isn't saying," she said. "We were all very frightened during the whole of yesterday."

"The noise was really loud, and a lot of people had gathered on the square [in Nansan], and we could see thick smoke, and flashes, as well as aircraft," the woman said.

She said none of the aircraft spotted by local people had been Chinese, however.

"There were military planes flying back and forth all day ... I think the military is very worried right now," she said.

"There aren't many soldiers around on the streets now, so I'm guessing they have all gone to the border area to await orders," she said.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

Post by A_Gupta »

Rohingya face genocide in Myanmar, per the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.
http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index. ... rma_r.html
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

Post by Tuvaluan »

Highly convenient that the same scale used for Rohingyas is never used for the Hazaras/Shias in Pakistan. US has been moaning about hooman rights for a while now and thought it could use Suu Kyi as the poster girl to further their agenda, but then they found out the even Suu Kyi was not as concerned about the Rohingyas as Hillary Clinton and her democrat cronies were. sheer waste of a nobel peace prize...no gratitude these days.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

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http://www.gulf-times.com/eco.-bus.%20n ... ustry-boom
From the banks of the Yangon River rises Myanmar’s great economic hope, a $1.5bn manufacturing complex designed to lure investment and help the impoverished country compete in the global marketplace.

The first phase of the 2,400-hectare (5,900-acre) Thilawa Special Economic Zone (SEZ), an hour from the commercial capital Yangon, is only months away from completion, and plans to host some 100 factories employing 50,000 people are being fast-tracked.
...
The project is being driven by Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp, Marubeni Corp and Sumitomo Corp, with the backing of the four-year-old government.
...
Now, managed by a semi-civilian government, Myanmar has one of the world’s fastest growing economies.
Developers hope the Thilawa project will provide a further boost to foreign direct investment, which last fiscal year amounted to $8.1bn – about 25 times the $329.6mn received in 2009-2010 before the military ceded power.

Myanmar has two other SEZs on the way, in Dawai, a southern port complex abutting Thailand and Kyaukpyu on its west coast at the Bay of Bengal. But the government has made Thilawa the top priority.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

Post by Sudip »

A BORDER TOWN BUILT FOR VICE
Along the murky border of China and Myanmar, the stringent morals of both countries give way to a no-man’s-land where prostitution is unchecked, gambling is rampant, and the tiger bone wine flows freely.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

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http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/600-rohing ... -1.3068326

Numbers are being thrown about between 600 to 1600 rohingya arriving in indonesia on Boats.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indi ... 391512.cms
‘BSF not to be deployed on Myanmar front’
NEW DELHI: Fencing of the Myanmar border and BSF being posted there to guard it is now officially on the backburner thanks to the new government's 'look east' policy. NSA Ajit Doval on Friday said the decision to post BSF to guard the border had been taken last year but was now being reviewed in light of the 'look east' policy.

The decision to post BSF on the border had been taken in view of increased drug smuggling and north-east insurgents taking refuge in Myanmar. The border is currently guarded by Assam Rifles.

Replying to a question on the issue at a BSF function, Doval said, "The government's look east policy will have some security implications. A decision was taken last year but it has not been implemented. The Joint Intelligence Committee is looking at the issue in today's perspective."

Sources said the government believes fencing and posting of BSF would be a hindrance to people-to-people contact and trade which the government is promoting as part of its look east policy.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

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http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/worl ... 397035.cms
"Myanmar president signs off on controversial population law".
YANGON, Myanmar: Myanmar's president has signed off on a law requiring some mothers to space their children three years apart despite objections by a visiting senior US diplomat and rights activists, who worry it could be used not only to repress women, but also religious and ethnic minorities.

The Population Control Health Care Bill — drafted under pressure from hard-line Buddhist monks with a staunchly anti-Muslim agenda — was passed by parliamentarians last month.

President Thein Sein gave his stamp of approval on Tuesday, state-run media said on Saturday, a day after US deputy secretary of state Anthony Blinken warned during a face-to-face meeting of the potential dangers.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

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From the New York Times:
"Profits From Illicit Drug Trade at Root of Myanmar’s Boom"
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/06/world ... -boom.html
YANGON, Myanmar — Visitors flying into this buzzing tropical metropolis step into a modern glass-and-steel airport that symbolizes both Myanmar’s aspirations to rejoin the wider world after years of isolation and the country’s troubled past.

The company that built the terminal, Asia World, was started by one of the country’s premier drug kingpins, a warlord whose militia peddled heroin extracted from the opium fields of the mountainous hinterlands. It is nearly impossible to visit Myanmar today and not encounter the company’s other projects: roads, hydroelectric dams, the country’s biggest ports and one of its most luxurious hotels, the Sule Shangri-La in downtown Yangon.

There is no evidence to suggest the company has any current ties to drug trafficking, but as Myanmar strives to modernize after decades of dictatorial rule, Asia World’s role in that effort provides a prominent example of how the drug trade is inextricably intertwined with the country’s new economy and lies at the root of many of its efforts to rebuild.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

Post by vijaykarthik »

^ the Manipuri incident has a Myanmar aspect too. I think its the Khaplang faction that ambushed the soldiers and brutally killed them. Its the same gang which unilaterally went back on the ceasefire signed with India because they signed a ceasefire with Myanmar a few months back. Logic sed: a faction cant sign a ceasefire with 2 countries at the same time or something as stupid as that.

And that is leading to infighting amongst the factions based out of India / Myanmar.

I wonder why Doval decided not to have the BSF man the borders. So, if they don't, at least raise a Indo-Myanmar border patrol on the lines of ITBP, Ladakhi Scouts etc. Else, at least put SSB there? I find the logic of look east making the govt not act of defending the country's border very lame. Unacceptable too. Sometimes, it makes sense to have some neutral perspective plus locals there so they locals don't give in to practicalities and look the other way when bad things happen.

67 years and we still don't have a credible, cogent and correct policy towards the NE states. No wonder the other countries (across the border)/ adversaries individually and severally try to spread panic and unrest and show up the central govt in bad light.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

Post by vijaykarthik »

More on the same. This person has written it well.

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/columns ... 286731.ece

Reactive measures have never achieved lasting results in tackling insurgency in the Northeast. India needs Myanmar's cooperation to ensure border security.

The killing on June 4 in Manipur’s Chandel district of 20 Army personnel of the 6 Dogra Regiment was an incident waiting to happen. It is a miracle that such attacks have not taken place earlier and will be equally surprising if they don’t recur.

Given Manipur’s troubled past, there is something eerie about its tranquillity today. Once upon a time, Manipur used to be the most insurgency-affected State in the Northeast, with more than 30 outfits operating there. However, over the last five years (except 2012), the State has reported less than 100 insurgency-related deaths per year. Since 2008, the annual fatalities among security forces have remained below 20. This year, till the Chandel ambush took place, only two security personnel had been killed.

This shows that with arrests of key leaders and with defections and splits within militant outfits, militancy in Manipur is now at its weakest. However, the June 4 attack proves that even during a time of weakness, the militants have the capacity to carry out a serious strike.

Pointing at the Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup (KYKL), People’s Liberation Army (PLA) or the Khaplang faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K), or blaming the probable violation of standard operating procedures by Army personnel or the killing of a woman in firing by the Assam Rifles, mischievously linked to this ambush, are irrelevant.
The Myanmar link
It was hoped that Myanmar’s promised cooperation would end insurgency movements in the Northeast. On November 22, 2011, Mullappally Ramachandran, then Minister of State in the Ministry of Home Affairs, told the Lok Sabha, “The use of Myanmar’s territory by Indian Insurgent Groups (IIGs) for carrying out violence in Northeastern States has regularly been taken up at various high-level interactions between India and Myanmar every year. As a result of regular follow-up, [the] Government of Myanmar has shown willingness to act against separatist groups and has even taken some action against IIGs.” Three years after this optimistic speech, there has been no concrete action on Myanmar’s part. Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Home Affairs, told Parliament in August 2014 that the “IIGs continue to use Myanmar territory notwithstanding Myanmar’s repeated assurances not to allow its territory for activities inimical to India.”

This proves that without Myanmar’s cooperation — similar to how Bhutan in 2003 and Bangladesh since 2009 launched systematic clean-up operations — the problem of militancy in Manipur, Nagaland and Assam cannot be solved. Nothing short of a prolonged joint operation with the Indian security forces stationed on the Indo-Myanmar border will work.

Since the 1994 MoU, India and Myanmar have conducted annual security negotiations at two levels: the Home Secretary and the Joint Secretary level. On each occasion, Myanmar has assured India that it will not allow its soil to be used by IIGs. However, the assurances have remained confined to paper and press statements.

Myanmar suffers from two drawbacks that make peace along the border look extremely remote. One, it is still busy arriving at a country-wide ceasefire with the ethnic armed groups inside its borders, which includes the NSCN-K. Two, despite being supplied with weapons and equipment by India, its policies against the IIGs have never gone beyond small areas and short-duration operations. Advanced information continues to be passed on to the insurgents by Myanmar’s local military commanders, who receive protection money from these groups.
India’s own faults
India’s own efforts at ensuring some degree of border security along the porous 1,643-kilometre Indo-Myanmar border must come under some introspection. A paper submitted by the National Security Advisory Board in 2010 pointed to the fact that the 46-battalion strong Assam Rifles, the paramilitary force that guards the Indo-Myanmar border, is so short of strength that it stations its forces 40 kilometres away from the border. It deployed 31 battalions in counter-insurgency duties, leaving only 15 battalions to guard the risky border.

Moreover, operational control of the paramilitary force has remained a bone of contention between the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Ministry of Defence. The proposal under the United Progressive Alliance government to replace Assam Rifles with the Border Security Force has been nixed by the present regime. The fact that MHA’s own assessments of the threats emanating from Myanmar are so out of sync with reality is evident from the following statement. On March 2, 2015, an MHA official told the media, “There is no real danger from any activities on the India-Myanmar border. In fact, there is a need to strengthen ties between the two countries and allow borderless travel and trade. Any additional build-up of force or change in deployment will send a wrong signal to the country which is our neighbour and friend.” Such laxity has resulted in the Indo-Myanmar border being guarded by a force that simply does not have the adequate numbers to foil militants or even arms and drug smugglers.

Now, the Home Minister has called for “strongest action” against the ambush on the Army personnel. This will only amount to a temporary area domination exercise; the militants would have fled to safety in Myanmar anyway. Just as the 2014 massacre by the National Democratic Front in Bodoland in Assam and the army operation that neutralised over 150 of its cadres did not result in the decimation of the outfit, militancy in Manipur will continue to survive. Reactive measures, as the history of insurgency in the Northeast tells us, have never achieved lasting results.

(Bibhu Prasad Routray, Director, Mantraya.org, served as a Deputy Director in the National Security Council Secretariat. Email: bibhuroutray@gmail.com)
First time I am reading him, I think. The line reg the Assam rifles, the stationing about 40kms away from border, the severe reduction in strength, the current size of the battalion strength, the other opns they are involved in etc etc which reduces the remaining fellas to man the border etc etc says it all. Doesn't look like the MHA "gets it" by looking at their current line / thought process either. Hell, just because they are nice neighbors doesn't mean borders shouldn't be properly defended. I can think of several equipoise scenarios where the borders can be perfectly defended and trade is also allowed to flourish and multiply. The canards that are passed on as "sensible stuff" from the MHA is quite despicable. Without a safe border, its a waste of time trying to integrate the NE. And without the NE, our routes are cut off even more. Its alarming that even with Kiren Rijijju and V K Singh given exclusive rights / relevant authority to develop NE, we have bass-ackwards policy WRT the 7 Sisters.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

Post by Dipanker »

Good insight into Myanmar's Rohingyas problem by Nazam Sethi. It becomes abundantly clear why Myanmar stripped them of citizenship, Rohingyas brought it upon themselves. The relevant content starts around 10 minute mark and continues till 33 minutes ( some filtering may be needed).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkujo71HIt0
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

Post by A_Gupta »

"Myanmar was neither with India nor against it"
Read more at: http://www.oneindia.com/india/myanmar-w ... 77519.html
Myanmar finds itself in a very confused state of mind while dealing with Khaplang. While there is a certain amount of consensus within Myanmar to deal with these terrorists, there is also another strong faction in the army which opposes Indian action. India had no choice but to issue an ultimatum to Myanmar before it launched strikes along the border areas. Myanmar was expected to launch an offensive on its soil and drive the terrorists to the Indian side of the border. However, Myanmar had clearly not done a convincing job and the Indian army managed to gun down around 20 militants. Myanmar's stand on the issue was confusing. Myanmar did not agree for such an operation nor did they object to it. The NSA who will hold a series of meetings with officials in Myanmar will raise this issue and work towards better cooperation.

Read more at: http://www.oneindia.com/india/myanmar-w ... 77519.html
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

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http://www.thedailystar.net/world/khapl ... tion-97870

Burmese Naga rebel chieftain SS Khaplang's truce with Myanmar's Thein Sein government in 2012 is believed to have reinvigorated northeast militant outfits that began losing steam after the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Isak Muivah (NSCN-IM) declared truce in July 1997.

The Myanmar government reportedly arranged Khaplang's transport from his base in northern Sagaing division to a Yangon hospital recently for treatment. This underscores the 2012 deal ensuring the safety of Khaplang's bases from attacks by the Tatmadaw (Burmese army) that reportedly, unlike Bhutan and Bangladesh, is not interested in chasing India rebels out.

For Khaplang, intelligence officials say, sheltering other groups serves a dual purpose. It generates revenue since the others pay to use his facilities and weapons, and gives him extra fighting hands against enemies.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

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Ajit Doval’s Myanmar visit: Extradition treaty top of the agenda.

India is likely to push Myanmar to begin negotiations for an extradition treaty that would enable Nay Pyi Taw to hand over insurgents and fugitives in future during National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval's visit to Myanmar later this week.

Doval will meet senior officials of the Myanmar government and Army to deliberate on measures to boost bilateral security cooperation, particularly in the area of intelligence sharing and coordination among armed forces and border-guards of the two neighbouring nations to combat crossborder insurgency, government officials here said. The NSA might be accompanied by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar for this key trip, first from India since cross-border operations by the Army last week.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

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Vipul wrote:Ajit Doval’s Myanmar visit: Extradition treaty top of the agenda.

India is likely to push Myanmar to begin negotiations for an extradition treaty that would enable Nay Pyi Taw to hand over insurgents and fugitives in future during National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval's visit to Myanmar later this week.

Doval will meet senior officials of the Myanmar government and Army to deliberate on measures to boost bilateral security cooperation, particularly in the area of intelligence sharing and coordination among armed forces and border-guards of the two neighbouring nations to combat crossborder insurgency, government officials here said. The NSA might be accompanied by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar for this key trip, first from India since cross-border operations by the Army last week.
What leverage does India have on Myanmar, which will compel them to make such a move ? The Burmese, while being no Pakis or Chinese, are still a hard nosed and inherently anti Indian people, who have not been particularly helpful to us in the past. One has to hand it to them though, unlike Paki, Bangla, Chinese they have not staked any fake territorial claims against us and also not needled us needlessly, like Sri Lanka and Nepal. Still, I doubt, that the Burmese will act on something proactive in favor of India, such as an extradition treaty, without us (Indians) creating some leverage over them ? What possible leverage do we have or can create against them ?
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

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A UN document titled "INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION: MUTUAL LEGAL ASSISTANCE AND EXTRADITION IN MYANMAR
by Htu Htu Ngwe*"
Myanmar acceded to the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime on 31
March 2004. In this Convention, Mutual Legal Assistance (MLA) and Extradition are
important provisions for the state parties. To be in line with and to implement the provision
of MLA, Myanmar enacted ‘The Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Law’ on 28 April
2004 and promulgated the Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters Rules on 14 October 2004.
The conditions and requirements to request MLA in Myanmar regarding with necessity
of a treaty basis, the procedure to be followed by a requesting state, assurance of reciprocity,
and dual criminality are mentioned in the relevant provisions.
Section 2 of the Law mentioned that this law shall apply to providing assistance in
criminal proceedings with States parties to an international convention or regional agreement
to which the Union of Myanmar is a State party or with the State that has entered into bilateral
agreement or with the State that will provide reciprocal assistance though not a State party to
the international convention or regional agreement or bilateral agreement with respect to
investigation, prosecution and judicial proceedings in criminal matters.
Concerning the necessity of a treaty basis, the States parties to an international
convention or regional agreement or bilateral agreement to which Myanmar is a State party
shall be provided MLA.

If the State is not a party to the above-mentioned agreements, MLA will be provided
upon the assurance of reciprocity.
The scope of offences for which MLA can be granted has no classification of offences.
But the request may be refused under Section 18 of the law. The severity of offences is
punishable with imprisonment for a term of one year and above under any existing law.
Regarding Mutual Legal Assistance, Myanmar is a State Party to the Convention Against
Transnational Organized Crime and the Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal
Matters (MLAT). Myanmar has only concluded a bilateral agreement with India on this
matter.
In most of the ASEAN countries, the focal points of MLA are Offices of the Attorney
General, but in Myanmar, the Central Authority was established and led by the Minister of
Home Affairs. Most of the MLA requests were carried out in informal ways between
Myanmar and China, Myanmar and Thailand.

9. Regarding extradition, Myanmar enacted the Extradition Act in 1903 which still exists
but does not apply in practice. It is not in line with the current situation, and we are trying to
promulgate a new law for extradition. At present, Myanmar has not concluded any bilateral
agreement between other States. Therefore, we have no presentation on extradition.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

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rsangram wrote:
Vipul wrote:Ajit Doval’s Myanmar visit: Extradition treaty top of the agenda.

India is likely to push Myanmar to begin negotiations for an extradition treaty that would enable Nay Pyi Taw to hand over insurgents and fugitives in future during National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval's visit to Myanmar later this week.

Doval will meet senior officials of the Myanmar government and Army to deliberate on measures to boost bilateral security cooperation, particularly in the area of intelligence sharing and coordination among armed forces and border-guards of the two neighbouring nations to combat crossborder insurgency, government officials here said. The NSA might be accompanied by Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar for this key trip, first from India since cross-border operations by the Army last week.
What leverage does India have on Myanmar, which will compel them to make such a move ? The Burmese, while being no Pakis or Chinese, are still a hard nosed and inherently anti Indian people, who have not been particularly helpful to us in the past. One has to hand it to them though, unlike Paki, Bangla, Chinese they have not staked any fake territorial claims against us and also not needled us needlessly, like Sri Lanka and Nepal. Still, I doubt, that the Burmese will act on something proactive in favor of India, such as an extradition treaty, without us (Indians) creating some leverage over them ? What possible leverage do we have or can create against them ?
May be we start giving support to Karen Rebels...
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

Post by member_23692 »

Prithwiraj wrote:
What leverage does India have on Myanmar, which will compel them to make such a move ? The Burmese, while being no Pakis or Chinese, are still a hard nosed and inherently anti Indian people, who have not been particularly helpful to us in the past. One has to hand it to them though, unlike Paki, Bangla, Chinese they have not staked any fake territorial claims against us and also not needled us needlessly, like Sri Lanka and Nepal. Still, I doubt, that the Burmese will act on something proactive in favor of India, such as an extradition treaty, without us (Indians) creating some leverage over them ? What possible leverage do we have or can create against them ?
May be we start giving support to Karen Rebels...[/quote]

That will be a good start. Perhaps, manufacturing some territorial claims against Burma, would also be a good idea. In fact, it would be a good idea to "discover" some territorial claims against Sri Lanka too, and while we are at it, Nepal as well and if Zia ever comes back to power in Bangla Desh, against them too. And then we should assume the posture, that we will never resort to violence to enforce these claims, while embarking on some aggressive patrolling along those areas, in the Indian side of the border, while "accidentally" crossing over to the disputed areas periodically.

These territorial claims will serve a useful purpose in that India can then assume the posture that we will not act much on these territorial claims and keep them in abeyance until we can sort these out peacefully and through dialogue (a lengthy dialogue at that), unless, we perceive the other country to be taking a hostile position against us on any issue or aligning in any way with our enemy.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

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Myanmar is not a hostile country, though doing things like supporting anti-govt. rebels will certainly make it a hostile country and cause more problems to India than it solves. Consider an uncooperative myanmar regime that allows NE terror groups and militias to operate freely in Myanmar and conduct cross border raids into India. This is not a hypothetical, since this is exactly what was going on a decade to 15 years ago until the Indian govt. started to make nice to the Myanmar dictatorship via some realpolitik moves, including the sidelining of Aung San Suu Kyi and her british mentors and "Myanmar democracy movement" pushed by UK and USA.

Myanmar is playing swing state between India and China and as such will try to maximise its own benefit via partial cooperation with both states, choosing to be neutral in areas where taking a side will reduce their own ability to get the best out of China and India.

Rule no. 1 has to be "no too-clever-by-half political games in India's neighbourhood" such as arming rebels in their territory, unless the neighbour is like pakistan, i.e., an overtly hostile state with no room to negotiate.

Some posters here seem to be master trolls given the kind of mischievous trollery they indulge in a range of threads, all under the guise of being an ultra-nationalist.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

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^^^ I don't think India needs any additional leverage with Myanmar, being India is enough. Myanmar has an extradition law on the books, that is not enforced, and they have to update and enforce it. I am quite sure that most of the world also wants Myanmar to do so.

But there is a caveat - every nation reserves the right to refuse extradition if it deems political persecution is taking place. This is the sticky point.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

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That is not necessarily true --- India had to actively engage Myanmar by suggesting the Kaladan project and also invite the Myanmar military dictatorship to India, after many years of toeing the US line and supporting Suu Kyi as official policy before that. The current goodwill in Myanmar regime today is a result of the realpolitik actions of India to support the miltary junta while ignoring calls for "freedom and democracy" from the usual suspects in the "international community".

Before the current realpolitik approach, India had little to no leverage over Myanmar, and the NE militia thrived in the jungles of myanmar in the 90's and early 2000's. India is many things all at the same time, so I don't think we can allow hubris in the form of "India can be itself and gain leverage over Myanmar". A conscious decision to practise realpolitik at all times seems essential -- in today's context, that would be in the form of not browbeating myanmar over the Rohingya refugee problem and supporting the Junta, which may sound all immoral and stuff, but is the required basis for ensuring support from Myanmar to further India's internal security in the NE.

Furthermore, the Indian govt should continue to pointedly ignore all the Indian "experts"/think tanks who go on about the "moral imperative in foreign policy" and about "addressing the rohingya problem" and "taking the myanmar govt. to task" - GoI seems to be in full realpolitik mode under the current regime. Silly moralizing was the very reason India's neighbourhood went into a downwards spiral during the decades of Nehruvian policy making, that was far removed from reality, being excessively moralizing/idealistic at its core.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

Post by niran »

rsangram wrote:
What leverage does India have on Myanmar, which will compel them to make such a move ?
how about the ruler's kid getting education in India, Best quality medical treatment.
a grant of 100 million USD by NDA-I for feasibility study on trans Asia transport link without any strings attached
not supporting Aang Su ki (hope got the spelling ) eradicating all anti Burma terrorism activity from Indian side of border, allowing Burmese citizen just to walk over the border post and back for their day jobs, free spares and repair of the Burmese's Mig 29s, the list goes on and on, the fact is Vajpayi "look east" which was rubbished by UPA now taken up by NaMo is bearing fruits.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

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A_Gupta wrote:http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150324/j ... RCp-2YbgoA
It never looked like it could get this worse. The close ties that China has developed with the military junta in Myanmar since the late 1980s now appear to belong to the past. China was the only major nation that firmly supported Myanmar's military junta when it faced Western sanctions following the violent suppression of democratic movements and the long incarceration of Aung San Suu Kyi. It supplied large quantities of military hardware to the 'Tatmadaw' - the Burmese army- funded the junta's limited development programme, and invested heavily across the nation.

But Myanmar's new regime, led by President Thein Sein, appears determined to balance Myanmar's overdependence on its northern neighbour by engaging with the West, Japan , India as well as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. The latest manifestation of this growing distance from China seems to have upset Beijing enormously.
Myanmar was always mentally very independent. Aung San Suu Kyi was improsoned precisely because she married a foreigner, a Britisher no less.

Earlier, they took help from Chinese because no one else would help. Now, they are balancing their relations.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

Post by nvishal »

Myanmar has a dozen ethnic seperatist groups waging a war against the state. Significant tracts of territory in that country are ruled by these ethnic militias; not the state govt or army. Do you really think myanmar cares about the smaller anti-india ethnic groups?

The anti-india groups are not aiming their guns at the myanmar army at the moment. By launching crackdown on these groups by the myanmar army on the instruction of the indian govt, myanmar risks making more ethnic enemies.

Myanmar army needs help(arms and personel training) from india. This will anger the west.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

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"NSA, foreign secretary in Myanmar; meet President Sein and top defence officials
Security cooperation between two countries was the main focus of the meetings"
http://www.livemint.com/Politics/pzAstX ... and-t.html
New Delhi: National security advisor Ajit Doval on Wednesday held comprehensive talks with Myanmarese President U. Thein Sein and top defence brass on security cooperation in Myanmar, days after Indian Army carried out a counter- insurgency offensive along the Indo-Myanmar border.
Enhancing security cooperation between the two countries was the main focus of the meetings which were also attended by foreign secretary S. Jaishankar.

According to sources, Doval and Jaishankar called on President Sein, Commander-in-Chief and foreign minister and the discussions included “continued security cooperation and coordination along the India-Myanmar border and on other bilateral issues.”

The officials are on day-long visit to Myanmar. Doval has been closely involved in planning the June 9 operation along the India-Myanmar border in which India invoked May 2014 border agreement with Myanmar on border cooperation which provides for a framework for security cooperation and exchange of information between security agencies of the two countries.

A key provision of the pact was conduct of coordinated patrols on their respective sides of the international border and the maritime boundary by the Armed Forces of the two countries.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

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nvishal wrote:Myanmar army needs help(arms and personel training) from india. This will anger the west.
The west/"international community" can go suck on a lollipop. The west's earlier plans to anoint Suu Kyi as their proxy has failed miserably, so what they "west" wants does not really matter. India is well beyond caring if the west is all angry or not w.r.t. myanmar, as far as I can tell.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

Post by JE Menon »

Why will it anger "the west"? They are quite enthusiastic about the change in Myanmar although they may not agree with the pace and nature in all its contours.

Who comprises the "west" today anyway? It's case by case.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

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An eye to Myanmar’s sensitive spots - G.Parthasarathy, Business Line
Even as India promotes regional connectivity and economic integration across its land and maritime borders, there is very little understanding of the importance of relations with Myanmar. We seem to forget that Myanmar borders four of our insurgency-prone States — Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.

When Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao introduced the country’s ‘Look East’ policy, Myanmar assumed a key position as India’s land bridge to the fast-growing Asean economies. Recognising that Myanmar itself was concerned about its increasingly close embrace of China, India supported its quest for membership of Asean. New Delhi also fashioned a multi-faceted framework of dialogue to enhance economic and border security cooperation.

Careful cooperation

A wide ranging dialogue with Myanmar on trans-border border cooperation followed. Both India and Myanmar faced problems from the propensity of the Khaleda Zia government in Bangladesh to fund, train and arm separatist terrorist groups from across Indian’s North-Eastern States.

After careful preparation and security exchanges, the armies of India and Myanmar launched coordinated operations in 1995 against a large group of armed separatists being infiltrated from Bangladesh into India’s North-East. Myanmar quietly permitted Indian forces to operate on its territory. The infiltrators were largely eliminated. The Narasimha Rao government wisely avoided public comment, but the message worldwide was that India and Myanmar had cooperated in a massive anti-terrorist military action.

There have been subsequent instances of counter-terrorism military cooperation between India and Myanmar, involving action by India against the NSCN (Khaplang). In recent months, the situation has deteriorated along the India-Myanmar border, with the NSCN (Khaplang) entering into a ceasefire agreement with the Myanmar government. At the same time, relations between Myanmar and China have deteriorated, with Myanmar cancelling project approvals for major Chinese projects.

China, in turn, is backing ethnic armed groups of Han Chinese origin (Kokang and Wa) along its borders with Myanmar’s Shan state. Matters escalated when an attack by the Myanmar Air Force killed Chinese nationals in the bordering Yunnan province. Closer to India’s borders with Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, Kachin tribals of the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) are involved in an armed insurrection against the Myanmar government. China, which has a cosy relationship with Kachin separatists, is attempting to play mediator.

Brokering talks

Leaders of Indian insurgent groups from Assam, Manipur and Nagaland who were maintaining links with the Chinese were backed by the KIA. They made regular visits across the Myanmar-China border to Ruili, in Yunnan province. These groups have now come together under the umbrella of an NSCN(K)-led and evidently Chinese-backed group calling itself the United National Front of West Southeast Asia (UNWSA).

There are also credible reports that ULFA leader Paresh Barua is emerging as a kingpin and major arms trader. Interestingly, all this comes at a time when an Indian is playing a discreet role in brokering peace between ethnic armed groups and the government in Myanmar. The former Mizo insurgent who became chief minister of Mizoram (1998-2008), Zoramthanga, has been seeking to facilitate a peace process which could bring even the Kachins, Wa and Kokang, despite their close links with China, to the talks.

The recent attacks on the Indian armed forces in Manipur and elsewhere in the North-East have to be seen in the context of these developments. The NSCN(K), which had observed a long-term ceasefire in Nagaland and Manipur, has evidently been given the lead position in the UNWSA. The NSCN (K) took the lead in the June 4 attack in which 18 Indian soldiers were killed. The Indian response was swift, measured and decisive, with an airborne commando night raid on NSCN camps in Myanmar.

The attack was necessarily carried out without prior intimation: Indian Ambassador Gautam Mukhopadhyaya informed the Myanmar foreign office only early in the morning. Keeping in mind Myanmar’s sensitivity regarding its sovereignty, the Indian Army came out with a measured statement, indicating that it had acted decisively in an attack “along” the India Myanmar border, carefully avoiding mention of crossing the international border. The corps commander in Srinagar noted rightly that the situation along the LoC and the international border with Pakistan was very different from the India-Myanmar border.

Contradictory statements


Reacting to this,, the office of Myanmar’s president, Thein Sein, stated that what had transpired was “coordinated cooperation between Indian troops and the Myanmar armed forces based in the area”. He added that while no Myanmar soldiers were directly involved, “we will never allow or support insurgents, whether they are against Myanmar, or against a neighbouring country”.

In the meantime, a junior minister of the Indian Government contradicted what the army had said earlier about the operations being “along” the India-Myanmar border, by asserting they involved special forces “crossing the border and going deep into another country”. This was contrary to a long established practice with Myanmar. It also contradicted the Indian Army’s statement that the operation was along the India-Myanmar border. Moreover, all this occurred when Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was commencing a high profile visit to China, which signalled growing Chinese unease with its traditional supporters in the present dispensation.

The ministerial statement from Delhi could well be used by opponents of the government in Myanmar to signal that the government had compromised the country’s sovereignty by allowing a foreign military force to intrude into its territory.

With National Security Adviser Ajit Doval visiting Myanmar, these issues will hopefully be addressed. There is little to be achieved by disregarding sensitivities in a friendly neighbouring country. It also needs to be borne in mind that for the foreseeable future, the army in Myanmar will continue to play a significant role in that country’s national life. It would be useful if India’s army chief, like some of his predecessors, pays an official visit to Myanmar soon.

The writer is a former High Commissioner to Pakistan
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

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http://www.tribuneindia.com/news/nation ... 95755.html

The PM was not privy to details of the operation and yet Praveen "Grandmother crossed the LoC" Swami and Ajai "amateur arms dealer" Shukla had complete knowledge of exactly how many people died.
He met the commandoes “to pat them on their backs” and know for himself the operation in Myanmar, sources said.

On June 9, the 21 Para Special Forces’ unit had entered Myanmar and killed 60 insurgents in a surgical strike on two of their camps. The rebels, on June 4, led by the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland (K) had killed 18 Army men and injured 11 jawans in an attack in Manipur.

The team comprising 45 to 50 soldiers of the 21 Para Special Forces met Modi and in attendance were senior-most officers of the Army’s Eastern Command. Photos were clicked but none made public so far. Modi spent a fair amount of time talking to the officers and men about the operations and congratulating them. For the Army, it was a first, in recent years, that the Prime Minister met an operational team. Interactions between the Prime Minister and men on the ground are largely limited to the former’s visits to border areas.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

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http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-my ... ts-2099190
"Myanmar set to launch joint operations against insurgents"
National security advisor Ajit Doval's strategic visit to Nay Pyi Taw last week seemed to have paid off well to pacify military junta and make them agree for joint Army action against Indian insurgent groups that are using Myanmar as a base to prepare and launch attacks on Indian soil.

A high level military delegation from Myanmar is expected to visit New Delhi and work out a joint strategy against insurgents groups that are operating from Sagaing division of Myanmar hitting out at Indian interests and security forces.
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Re: India-Myanmar news and discussion

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http://www.manilatimes.net/the-folly-of ... ar/195759/
Myanmar’s importance in India’s strategic thinking cannot be overstated. Beyond the generally stable relationship both countries share, Naypyidaw also provides vital strategic space in mainland Southeast Asia and connects India’s Northeast with industrializing ASEAN economies. India has been trying for many years to have access to huge energy resources in Myanmar. In fact, the cross-border collaboration arguably underscores how much New Delhi can achieve if it gets its Myanmar policy right. It also serves as a reminder that any attempt to unravel it may cost New Delhi dearly. For instance, given India’s insurgency problem in the Northeast, another dry spell of two decades may not be advisable.

The recent jubilation actually becomes a matter of ridicule when compared to the long list of incomplete, abandoned and unsuccessful Indian initiatives in Myanmar. India’s limited progress is primarily an outcome of lead-actor inertia and inefficiency, and lost opportunities in building strategic capital in Myanmar. Some of them need to be highlighted here for sobering effect.

First, various cross-border connectivity initiatives have suffered from cost overruns and time lags. It took India eight years to complete a 100-mile Friendship Road and that remains only success so far. Other projects, such as the India-Myanmar Thailand Trilateral Highway, the Delhi-Hanoi railway, and the Kaladan multi-modal project (road and river networks) remain incomplete. Their deadlines have already been pushed back several times. The long-awaited Imphal-Mandalay bus route, proposed for the first time in 2009, could also suffer the same fate. Moreover, India’s own Northeast remains poorly connected with its borders. Indeed, there is only one national highway – NH 39 – that effectively connects India’s Northeast to its border.

Second, notwithstanding two decades of efforts, cross-border trade has not increased. The total trade volume of nearly a million dollars along the border of 1021 miles appears disappointingly low when compared with the bilateral trade of more than $2 billion in 2014. Besides, the poor quality of trade-facilitating infrastructure at the border makes India look like it is stuck in a 20th century time warp.

Third, the saga of India-Myanmar collaboration in the energy sector is well known. India’s failure in securing the marketing rights of oil and gas from Myanmar in 2007 highlighted – aside from China’s growing clout over the decision-makers of Myanmar – New Delhi’s own bureaucratic inefficiency, lack of inter-departmental coordination and its inability to negotiate a deal with Bangladesh. Both India and Myanmar have also abandoned two hydroelectricity projects on the Chindwin River in Myanmar. Myanmar’s rejection of these projects is a reminder that India’s strategic capital in Myanmar cannot be taken for granted.

Fourth, one can notice similar set of lead-actor inertia and challenges in terms of Indian attempts to give momentum to plurilateral cooperative initiatives with Myanmar at the center. India has launched a series of sub-regional, inter-regional, and trilateral cooperative initiatives during the last 18 years. These are BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral, Technical and Economic Cooperation) since 1997, MGC (Mekong-Ganga Cooperation) since 2000 and India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Cooperation since 2003. None of them seems to have made a major headway. For instance, though BIMSTEC represents two-fifths of the most impoverished people of the world, it has failed to take any initiative to discuss the current refugee crisis that has unfolded in the Bay of Bengal in May 2015. This is despite the fact that BIMSTEC’s members include Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand, the three most affected countries in the refugee crisis.

Last but not the least is the plight of the politically disempowered and socially marginalized Indian diaspora in Myanmar. Many of the Muslims caught in the Buddhist-Muslim crossfire in important cities of Myanmar are of Indian origin. Rising India has yet to address the problems of Indian diaspora, notwithstanding the Modi government’s much-vaunted diaspora policy.

Given all this, India would do well to show some humility instead of hubris in its relationship with Myanmar. Demonstrating insensitivity towards its Southeast Asian neighbor through incidents like the cross-border strike is misplaced, unwarranted and strategically offsetting. If India wants to have a better relationship with Myanmar and see its Act East policy succeed, it should start by acting with a little more consideration for Naypyidaw.
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