Indo-Myanmar Relations: An Assessment in the wake of the 32nd Border Meeting

On receiving the news that Myanmar had been hit by Cyclone 'Nargis' at 2030 hours on 02nd May 08, and realizing the extent of damage caused to life and property, Indian Naval Ships (INS) Rana and Kirpan, positioned at Port Blair, were immediately tasked to proceed with relief supplies. They reached Yangon by first light on 07 May 08 with food, tents, clothes, medicines, blankets etc. This initiative is the most recent in the Indo-Myanmar relations, as they have expanded in the last few years.

In fact, a 15-member Army Delegation led by Brig Gen Tin Maung Ohn had arrived in India for the 32nd Indo-Myanmar Border liaison meeting from 24 to 27 April
2008. The delegation visited Headquarters, 3 Corps at Rangapahar, Nagaland, and then Kolkata for the first and second rounds of discussions. Brig Gen Tin Maung Ohn, the delegation leader, called on Lt Gen VK Singh, General Officer Commanding in Chief, Eastern Command on 25 Apr 08 and issues such as cross border insurgency, arms smuggling and border management were discussed.

Of the four Indian states which share an international border with Myanmar - Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh - the first two are plagued by insurgent-turned- terrorist groups, who have been getting shelter and support from Myanmar Army. At least eight groups, including United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA) have bases in Myanmar.

In December 2006, during a meeting in Delhi between Home Minister Shivraj Patil and his counterpart Major-General Maung Oo, an agreement was reached to establish a "police liaison post" at the border by both countries for daily interaction, joint interrogation of arrested persons, and help in joint sharing of information at the field and national levels. Both sides also agreed to furnish details of
their nationals arrested in either country on drug-related charges. During External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's visit to Myanmar in January 2007, the military junta had agreed to India's proposal for cooperation between their armies for operations against insurgent groups active in the northeast. Vice Chairman Maung Aye had then agreed to pass instructions to his commanders to determine, with their Indian counterparts, how to operationalize the understanding.

Yet, everything is not as it should be. According to Kukiforum News of March 14, 2007, (www.kukiforum.com) datelined Moreh (Manipur's township on India- Myanmar International Boundary), over 400 Kuki villagers were abducted by joint SPDC (State Peace and Development Council)  and Meitei militants of United National Liberation Front (UNLF) at Laijang Kuki village at around 5.30 a.m. on 13 March. The combined force of Myanmar troops and UNLF came from Lallim/Namunta Kuki village inside Burma and abducted all the Kuki refugees at Laijang Grouping Center who had fled their homes to escape the harassment meted out to them by UNLF. In protest an indefinite bandh was imposed at Moreh and the surrounding area by several Kuki Organizations, disrupting normal life and border trade activities in the town of Moreh.
A number of youngsters participating in two demonstrations in March 2007 at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, and with whom I interacted said that the ruling Military Junta in Myanmar was providing covert and overt logistics support to the UNLF in its terrorist activities. Major bases of Manipur People's Army (MPA), the armed wing of the UNLF, are located within Burmese territory, from where it conducts terrorist operations inside Indian territory.

Meanwhile, the press note issued by KSO stated that "Government of India has not been sincere in tackling the UNLF menace. Operation Samtal Salient, conducted by the Indian Army was abruptly halted without achieving any tangible achievement (sic)…. At present, 39 Kuki villages in the Khengjoi Block of Chandel district being held hostage/kept in captivity by the UNLF, are being subjected to unimaginable
atrocities. As they were prevented from engaging in normal agricultural activities, they now face the threat of a famine outbreak". According to L S Kipgen,
General Secretary of the Kuki Students Democratic Front of Burma, who I spoke to, the Burmese military junta has a tacit understanding with the UNLF and is
providing its cadres shelter in their territory. Therefore, in spite of the understanding between the two governments, the Military Junta is still using the UNLF to oppress and drive out the Kukis from Myanmar. Kipgen has also stated that the Burmese military jointly conduct covert operations inside India involving trade and trafficking of narcotics, as well as terrorizing Kukis who dare to expose them. 

With a view to garnering support from Myanmar Army in dealing with the menace of insurgency and to counter-balance the Chinese influence in Myanmar, India has been engaging the military junta quite extensively since 2006. In 2001 India's Border Roads Organisation constructed a 160 kms long road from Tamu to Kalewa which reduced the travelling time from about 11 to 3 hours.  According to a 30 December 2006 report of India Defence Premium, during a visit to Myanmar in November 2006, former Indian Air Force Chief, Air Chief Marshal Tyagi offered a multimillion dollar sale of military hardware to Naypyidaw (military junta's new name for Yangon). The package included helicopters, technical upgrades of Burma-Russian and Chinese made fighter planes, naval surveillance aircraft and radar manufactured by Bharat
Heavy Electricals Limited. The visit of Gen Shwe Mann, the junta's joint chief of staff, in December was expected to expand the arms sales talks. Prior to ACM Tyagi's visit, former Indian Army Chief Gen J J Singh had offered to provide training in counterinsurgency campaigns for Burmese Special Forces. Earlier in 2006, former Indian Naval Chief, Admiral Arun Prakash had also visited Burma to negotiate the sale of two British-made BN-2 Islander maritime surveillance aircraft. This was followed by the sale of an unspecified number of T-55 tanks and 105mm light artillery guns. 

In a story written after Mukherjee's 2007 visit, Guwahati-based journalist Nava Thakuria quoted Sreeram Chaulia, a New York-based researcher on world affairs, to argue that the SPDC leaders has been using the menace of ULFA as a bargaining chip against New Delhi, even as the Indian civil society supports Aung San Suu Kyi's pro-democracy movement. "The military rulers keep on trying to prove its usefulness to India by occasionally cracking the whip on ULFA and National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang-led faction, which is ULFA's mentor in Myanmar) while not entirely smashing their hideouts on Myanmarese soil," claimed Sreeram Chaulia. He does not subscribe to the idea of enhancing the military relationship with SPDC by India and argues, "For over a decade, India has been betting on the wrong horse in Myanmar. If New Delhi hopes to counter Chinese influence in Yangon
and defeat ULFA, democracy in Myanmar is the only honourable and pragmatic solution." Although the next meeting between the two sides is scheduled to be held in Myanmar sometime later in 2008, there are no indications of any good news for India, not so far at least.
 

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the views either of the Editorial Committee or the Centre for Land Warfare Studies.