Editorial: Pragmatism over posturing in India’s Myanmar policy

Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing’s recent visit may have raised eyebrows, but engagement with the neighbour remains a strategic necessity

In diplomatic engagements, particularly with dubious neighbours, taking an unflinching moral position can sometimes be a luxury not worth pursuing. Instead, yielding to the imperatives of strategic stability can be more pragmatic and desirable. The recent five-day visit to India by Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing may have raised many an eyebrow in political circles because of the military junta’s oppressive policies, but engaging with the neighbour on matters of mutual interest must be viewed from the prism of pragmatic diplomacy. Surely, here was a discredited ruler on his first overseas trip since becoming the President through a shady election process that further deepened his country’s international isolation. What matters most for India is securing its interests as it shares a 1,643-kilometre border, mostly involving sensitive northeastern States. Apart from the shared border, the spectre of Chinese encirclement, the connectivity dreams of a neglected Northeast, and the hard-won security cooperation against shared insurgent threats are factors that cannot be wished away by invoking the rhetoric of democratic solidarity. However, India’s best path forward is to maintain diplomatic channels with Naypyidaw, accelerate engagement with ethnic armed organisations whose cooperation is indispensable, quietly press for humanitarian improvements and political transition, and above all, resist the temptation of becoming the primary legitimiser of a regime that its own people are fighting to end. New Delhi continued to support enduring peace and an inclusive process involving all stakeholders in Myanmar, arguing that sustained dialogue rather than disengagement offered the best chance of progress.

A key outcome of the talks held with Prime Minister Narendra Modi is that Min Aung Hlaing reiterated Myanmar’s assurance that its territory “would not be permitted to be used against India’s security interests”. The visit was important for Myanmar’s leadership because it sought to broaden diplomatic engagement after years of international criticism and isolation. In fact, it was a big diplomatic gain for the Myanmar regime because of the validation it got from the world’s largest democracy. For India, the visit reflects a long-standing view that strategic interests in Myanmar far outweigh concerns about the nature of the government in Naypyidaw. India has three broad interests in Myanmar: stability along its northeastern border States, the success of its Act East policy and managing the strategic implications of China’s growing influence in the country. Myanmar occupies a key place in India’s regional strategy as the only member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) that shares a land border with India. Since 2017, China has widened its influence in Myanmar and become more open about supporting its military leadership in pursuit of its own strategic and economic interests. Hlaing’s visit also comes against the backdrop of Myanmar’s strained relations with many Western countries. The US and several of its allies had imposed sanctions on the military leadership after the 2021 coup.

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