Myanmar
India shares a land border of approx 1700 kms, as well as a maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal, with Myanmar. Four north-eastern states, viz., Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram border Myanmar. In addition, both countries share a heritage of spiritual, historical, linguistic and ethnic ties.
Cooperation to tackle the challenge of COVID-19 Pandemic
- India has provided support to Myanmar in its fight against COVID-19 through supply of medicines, medical equipment and vaccines. India has supplied more than 21 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to Myanmar, including as gift (3.7 million doses) and commercial supplies (17.5 million doses). Two medical oxygen plants were also supplied to Myanmar in January 2022.
Capacity Building & Other Exchanges
- India has provided assistance to Myanmar in setting up institutions for higher learning and research, namely Myanmar Institute of Information Technology (MIIT), Advanced Centre for Agricultural Research and Education (ACARE) and Rice Bio-Park in Nay Pyi Taw. India has also set up Four Indo-Myanmar Industrial Training Centres (IMITCs), at Pakokku, Myingyan, Monywa & Thaton. These centres are providing training to local youth who can be employable in the industries being set up in Myanmar, thus contributing to the country’s industrialization.
- India also extends its assistance to centres set up earlier, such as the India-Myanmar Centre for Enhancement of IT Skills (IMCEITS), the Myanmar-India Centre for English Language Training (MICELT) and the Myanmar-India Entrepreneurship Development Centre (MIEDC), which are all in Yangon.
- In the health-care field, India has undertaken projects to upgrade facilities in the Yangon Children’s Hospital, the Sittwe General Hospital and the Monywa General Hospital.
- Since 2015, more than 1400 candidates from Myanmar have been trained in India under various ITEC courses in diverse areas including English language, data analytics, social work, courses for administrators, Buddhism, COVID related topics, etc. Myanmar students have also availed scholarships to Indian universities under ICCR programmes.
Development Cooperation (Grants/ LoCs/ Assistance)
- Development Cooperation has been a prominent feature in India’s overall bilateral engagement with Myanmar. The total portfolio of projects involving Indian assistance is valued at approximately USD 2 billion which is mostly grant-in-aid. It includes setting up of major connectivity infrastructure as well as significant initiatives in establishing long-term, sustainable and relevant institutions for capacity building and human resource development in critical areas such as agricultural research; education; IT; skill development, etc.
- The Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project (KMTTP) is a significant project undertaken by India to create a multi-modal transport corridor from the eastern ports of India to Myanmar as well as North-Eastern part of India via Myanmar. The project includes a waterway component of 158 km on Kaladan River from Sittwe to Paletwa and a road component of 109 km from Paletwa to Zorinpui on the India-Myanmar border in Mizoram State. The Sittwe port was inaugurated in May 2023. The work on road component is under progress.
- The India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway project that starts from Moreh in Manipur to Mae Sot in Thailand through Myanmar is the other major connectivity project being undertaken in Myanmar. Under this, the upgradation of the 112-km long Kalewa-Yargi road to national highway standard is ongoing. In addition, 69 bridges in Tamu-Kalewa-Kyigone are to be replaced with new Reinforced Cement Concrete (RCC) bridges. India is providing USD 1 million grant for maintenance of these bridges in the interim.
- In addition to these major infrastructure projects, India is supporting construction of schools, health centres, bridges & roads and infrastructure projects in Chin State and Naga Self-Administered Zone of Myanmar under the MoU on Border Area Development Programme (BADP). A 5 year grant of USD 25 million i.e. 5 million per annum has been provided under this programme.
- India has signed a MoU on Rakhine State Development Programme (RSDP) with Myanmar in line with India’s commitment to the safe, speedy and sustainable return of the displaced persons to Rakhine State. 250 prefabricated houses in Rakhine State have been built and handed over in July 2019 under the first phase of RSDP. 6 project agreements have been signed under the second phase and a project on hybrid solar powered electrification in 5 villages of Rakhine has been completed this year.
- India’s has also extended Lines of Credits (LoCs) for projects in Myanmar in diverse sectors such as Telecommunication; Railways; Energy; Automobile; Power and Agriculture.
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Special Endeavour: Humanitarian Assistance
- In the wake of destruction caused by cyclone Mocha in May 2023, India had sent 4 naval ships to Myanmar with about 40 tons of relief materials including essential medicines. Earlier, India had also provided 10,000 tons of rice and wheat as humanitarian assistance which was received in Myanmar in March-April 2022.
Special Endeavour: Heritage Restoration
- In the cultural field, India has contributed to restoration of the Ananda Pagoda (USD 1.42 million) in Bagan and is currently undertaking an extensive project on the restoration and conservation of as many as 92 structures by 2029 (total estimated cost USD 5.42 million) that had been damaged following the earthquake in Bagan in 2016. 5 Pagodas have already been restored and preserved.
