Myanmar’s relentless war putting refugee, infrastructure strain on India

Air strikes by the Myanmar Army on ethnic rebels and fierce fighting close to the India-Myanmar border have led to a fresh influx of Chin refugees from the neighbouring country into Mizoram.

Indian security forces suspect that insurgent outfits of Manipur and Mizoram are embroiled in the clashes and it could have a spill over effect on either side of the international border, leading to spiralling violence in the region.

Myanmar is one of India’s strategic neighbours and shares a 1,640-kilometre border with a number of northeastern states, including militancy-hit Nagaland and Manipur.

According to reports, a group of resistance fighters took control of two military camps at Rihkhawdar on Monday following intense fighting with Myanmarese troops.

It is estimated that around 4,000 Myanmar nationals, including some soldiers, have sought shelter in Mizoram.

Notably, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), Kanglei Yawol Kunna Lup (KYKL), Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP), Manipur People’s Liberation Front, the United National Liberation Front (UNLF) of Manipur along with the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) have for long been maintaining their hideouts and other facilities in Myanmar territory close to the Indo-Myanmar border in the Rakhine Chin, Sagaing, Kachin, Shan and Kayin areas.

It is also suspected that some cadres and leaders of these Indian insurgent outfits are acting as mercenaries against the Myanmar army. A security official said this is being done either on a daily basis or as a long term strategy for an exchange of cash and safe sanctuaries in the neighbouring country.

The Indian border guarding troops are alert as the region is likely to remain on the boil for some time and the involvement of insurgent groups can have long-term implications for security in the region.

The first influx from the neighbouring country happened in February 2021 when the junta seized power. Since then, thousands of people from Myanmar have taken shelter in the North Eastern States.

According to the Mizoram Home Department, 31,364 Myanmar Nationals are currently living in different parts of the State as refugees.

The fresh outbreak of clashes close to the MizoramMyanmar border has enveloped India’s Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport project using Sittwe port in Myanmar in a cloud of uncertainty.

The project is aimed at India, using the Sittwe port in Myanmar to connect north-eastern states with the rest of India through an alternative route. This route is in addition to India using Chittagong port in Bangladesh to connect the region through Tripura and using the inland waterways of Bangladesh via the Indo-Bangladesh Protocol route and the Brahmaputra train line connecting Kolkata-Dhaka-Agartala through Akhaura to connect the region with the rest of India through Assam.

India remaining vigilant against anti-Indian forces seeking to destabilise peace in the sub-region is crucial to prevent such forces from hampering its plans to deepen bilateral and multilateral engagements under the Act East Policy and Neighbourhood First policy and make the northeast region the gateway to the sub-region.

India’s Minister for Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal, and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Transport and Communications, Admiral Tin Aung San of Myanmar, jointly inaugurated the port and received the first Indian cargo ship that was flagged off from Kolkata port and traversed the 539 km sea route between Kolkata and Sittwe.

India walks a tightrope as far as the internal situation in Myanmar is concerned. It has defence deals for supplying arms to the Junta, while firmly reiterating its position for the restoration of democracy.

Any move to budge under international pressure to cede relations with the military regime, would only encourage anti-Indian forces to use it as a springboard to destabilise peace in north-eastern states by emboldening rebel groups in the northeast and push drug lords to flood the region with illicit drugs.