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India and Myanmar: Prospects of Maritime Reciprocity

Author: Adarsh Vijay*

Date: 13 February 2018

Myanmar occupies a central position in India’s geopolitical imperatives in the Bay of Bengal
(BoB). On 06 September 2017, the two countries inked agreements on maritime security
and cooperation, including one on white shipping information-sharing. New Delhi seeks to
enhance its geopolitical leverage in the BoB, particularly in context of how the maritime
template of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) is being shaped through the ubiquitous presence
of the non-resident stakeholders. What does India seek to achieve through this emerging
maritime narrative? Are New Delhi’s ambitions purely security-centric? If not, is India
triggering a geopolitical rivalry in the region?

India’s maritime cooperation with Myanmar has significant potential. The

International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) between India and Myanmar adjoining the
strategic Andaman and Nicobar Islands necessitates an intensive maritime interface,
including military ties. The trends in this direction need to be viewed in context of New
Delhi’s flagship “Act East Policy”, its “Neighbourhood First Policy”, and, the Chinese
strategic presence in the area. China’s interests in the IOR, especially in Myanmar, are being
viewed as challenges to India.

The prevailing maritime cooperation involves aspects ranging from reciprocal

warship port to the supply of naval hardware by India. Since 2013, the Indian Navy and
Myanmar Navy have also been engaged in coordinated patrols along the IMBL. This series
patrols has the slightly clunky appellation, “Indo-Myanmar Coordinated Patrol” (IMCOP).
Bilateral maritime cooperation is in evidence even beyond the IMCOP. For instance,
Naypyidaw sent a ship to participate in the Indian Navy’s International Fleet Review, 2016.
A Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), too, has been signed (in February 2016) between
the two navies. In the past, New Delhi has provided sonars and sonar domes, ‘BN-2
Defender’ (‘Islander’) medium-range maritime surveillance aircraft, directing gear, deck-
based air-defence systems, and, naval-gun boats, to Naypyidaw. In March 2017, India
agreed to establish meteorological facilities and provide training for the Myanmar Navy.
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The two countries had also cleared a deal worth US $37.9 million, for the supply of
lightweight torpedoes to Myanmar. The two most recent Memoranda of Understanding
(MoUs) — signed in September, 2017 — primarily focus on intensifying maritime security
cooperation, and, the sharing of ‘white shipping’ information. Adding to this, a technical
agreement on a coastal surveillance system was also signed. The cooperation is also, said to
help complement the defence cooperation with the Association of South East Asian Nations
(ASEAN). India’s proximity to Myanmar - the only ASEAN state which shares both land
and maritime boundaries with India - is crucial for sustaining the strategic edge enjoyed by
New Delhi.

The nature of maritime cooperation, however, goes beyond a security-oriented

dimension. India’s maritime engagement of Myanmar also reflects an economy-driven
approach. In the past, India’s image as a regional hegemon has invited scepticism from its
neighbourhood. New Delhi’s immediate neighbours were almost invariably wary of the
former’s intentions. India’s role as a net security provider in the region, therefore, remains
a challenged one. Extra-regional players such as the USA (with its stated “Rebalance to Asia”
policy), and China, which ideates on an Asian security mechanism, seek to impose a security
architecture that is likely to undermine New Delhi’s role in the Indian Ocean. Considering
the apprehensions of her neighbourhood, India appears to be moving on the right track by
capitalising upon economic and diplomatic options as the foremost priority.

The proposed ‘Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar Economic Corridor’ (BCIM-
EC) and the ‘Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic
Cooperation’ (BIMSTEC), which are the two major sub-regional organisations in the region,
offer a platform for both, the Indian and the Myanmar establishments, to redefine and
prioritise their areas of cooperation, and create a trans-regional market comprising South
Asia and Southeast Asia. BCIM’s expected capitalisation upon the ‘three Ts’ (Trade,
Transport and Energy) has an inescapable and important maritime facet. A shared vision,
incorporating the creation of maritime infrastructure, and harnessing the benefits of a ‘Blue’
economy, underscores the potential value of these ‘three Ts’. These initiatives would
definitely help minimise the potential of politico-economic instability in the BCIM sub-
region.

India is keen on the early completion of a US $484 million Kaladan Multi-Modal

Transit Transport System on the western coast of Myanmar, which acts as a trade and
logistics-link between the state of Mizoram in India’s Northeast and Myanmar. The project
focuses on an integrated Inland Water Transport (IWT) constituent, which extends up to
158 km along the Kaladan River from Sittwe to Paletwa. The proposed navigational channel
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is expected to enhance the connectivity and bilateral trade between the two countries. The
transhipment terminal at Paletwa is connected to Zorinpui, on the Indo-Myanmar border,
by a 110 km highway, which is further complemented by a 100-km long road-network that
joins up with the National Highway-54 at Lawngtlai, in Mizoram. This project also includes
the option of a 539 km shipping-lane between the ports of Kolkata and Sittwe. The initiative,
which was conceptualised through a ‘Framework Agreement’ in 2008, and also covers a
‘Special Economic Zone’ (SEZ) is progressing well. Hence, the goals of regional connectivity
and engagement, which are important facets of New Delhi’s “Neighbourhood First” policy,
are steadily being realised. The present pace of Indian endeavours promises to keep its
neighbourhood intact. Nonetheless, the project also brings a number of dilemmas in its
wake. Most importantly, the location of the project is largely in the conflict-torn Rakhine
state, within the Arakan region of Myanmar. The insurgency resulting from the ongoing
ethnic-cleansing and the exodus of Rohingya Muslims means that the security outlay for the
project will be much higher than might have otherwise been the case. The port-related
nature of the programme provides room for the naval forces of the both countries in
decision-making, in order to balance the security equations.

The containment of maritime crimes is another area where India and Myanmar find
convergence. The IOR continues to be a hub of drug trafficking, Illegal, Unregulated and
Unreported (IUU) fishing, and arms smuggling. The North-East (NE) of India has
descended into a volatile and vulnerable continuum of Low-Intensity Conflicts. Myanmar
has invariably been a point of transit for these drug traffickers and arms smugglers, who
then feed into the insurgency-intensive economy of the NE, from the ‘Golden Triangle’.
Political and economic destabilisation within India’s NE is directly proportional to
instability in Myanmar. Therefore, given the desired regional security architecture, a stable
Myanmar, as also its borderlands, is imperative for both New Delhi and Naypyidaw. Both
neighbours can jointly address these common threats and work towards greater
coordination in terms of information-sharing and higher degrees of security-cooperation,
by unearthing the alternatives in counter-strategies, particularly, on the maritime front.

IUU fishing, too, is a major cause of degradation of the maritime environment and
the deterioration of the economies of the BoB littorals. Drawing a requisite contour at the
bilateral level in order to strengthen the maritime law enforcement is a need of the hour. A
joint strategy would be an add-on to the greater schema in stopping unhealthy ocean
practices and in reviving the ocean to a point of stability. The serious depletion of fish in the
BoB contributes to a significant imbalance in livelihood and hence degrades the security of
all of the Bay’s constituent littoral States. The continuing menace of illegal fishing, especially
by foreign trawlers from Taiwan, calls for better coordination among BoB littorals.
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It would be unwise for India to underestimate the galloping interests of China in

Myanmar even within structures such as the BCIM, which are designed to promote shared
interests. Apparently, New Delhi is constantly exploring options to deter the Chinese in
what New Delhi considers to be its own backwater. The Act East Policy helps in the
generation of investment in non-military and diplomatic capital with which New Delhi seeks
to outweigh China in terms of strategic balance in SE Asia. On the other hand, Chinese
investments, particularly in the deep-sea port at Kyaukpyu, in Myanmar, are of great
geopolitical significance, in that it is an important component of the much-vaunted
Maritime Silk Road (MSR). China’s decision to invest in Kyaukpyu is viewed as a part of a
larger picture in terms of Beijing’s effort to resolve the ‘Malacca Dilemma’.

Finally, Beijing’s port-led development initiatives in Myanmar may also result in

enhanced Chinese naval presence in that country, especially over the long run. Such an
event would bring the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) much closer to India’s own
naval bases on its East coast as also in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, where India’s only
tri-service command is headquartered. If India wishes to counter this, it needs to tilt
Naypyidaw’s disposition in favour of New Delhi. The China factor also drives Indian
endeavours that seek to broadening cooperation with countries such as Japan, which shares
New Delhi’s interests in a stable Myanmar fee from undue Chinese influence. Averting
Chinese threats in the IOR requires the adoption and sustenance of a neighbour-friendly
approach by the Indian establishment, on both, the military and economic fronts. The fact
that the maritime domain offers the greatest potential in this regard bears little elaboration.

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*Adarsh Vijay is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at the

Madras Christian College, Chennai. The views expressed are his own and do not reflect
the official policy or position of the NMF. He can be reached at adarshvijay@ymail.com.
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Notes and References

1. India signs 11 agreements with Myanmar, Business Line, assessed on 8 February 2018.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/india-signs-11-agreements-with-myanmar/article9847207.ece

2. Prashanth Parameswaran, New Military Exercise Highlights India-Myanmar Defense Ties, assessed on 8
February 2018.https://thediplomat.com/2017/11/new-military-exercise-highlights-india-myanmar-defense-
relations/

3. Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, assessed
on 8 February 2018. http://www.mdoner.gov.in/content/introduction-1

4. Pratim Ranjan Bose, India awards road contract to complete Kaladan project in Myanmar, Business Line
assessed on 8 February 2018. http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/india-awards-road-
contract-to-complete-kaladan-project-in-myanmar/article9723297.ece