Even though the electoral process in Myanmar (also known as Burma and Brahmadesh) remains largely doubtful, the people of India’s north-eastern region, express a cautious optimism. The southeast Asian nation, which got independence in 1948, continues to face armed conflicts between the government forces and ethnic armed groups supported by the common people with guns on their hands (which has slowly deteriorated to a civil war like situation), unbelievable human sufferings for nearly 55 million Burmese nationals and abrupt changes of regimes in Rangoon (now Naypyitaw) by the military rulers.
Lately, the current batch of dictators, who grabbed power after toppling the democratically elected Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) government on 01 February 2021, start announcing in various occasions that they would go for the next general election by the end of this year or early days of 2026. Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing reiterated the commitment that he would hand over power after the polls. He also revealed that necessary preparations are going on to hold the elections as widely & extensively as possible. Justifying the 2021 military coup for saving the country from a fraudulently winning party, the top military dictator assured that the forthcoming elections will be ‘free and fair’.
While meeting the junta chief in Bangkok, during the BIMSTEC April summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized on restoring the democratic process in the neighbouring country with credible and inclusive polls. Mentioning about the human cost of the ongoing ethnic violence in Myanmar, PM Modi underlined that there is no military solution to the conflict. The saffron leader stressed that enduring peace could only be achieved through an inclusive dialogue. Needless to mention that, the turbulence in Myanmar has negatively impacted the bordering localities with a huge influx of refugees and asylum seekers from the poverty stricken country that even complicated the internal security of Manipur for years.
India has also invested in the Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project which remains stalled due to internal conflicts in Arakan and Chin States of western Myanmar. The riverine project has been promoted as a major development initiative inside Myanmar with an aim to connect the north-eastern region with the Burmese Sittwe port in the Bay of Bengal. Similarly, the construction of a Myanmar-India-Thailand highway is also on the cards for New Delhi and hence, hoping against hope, it is expected a stable democratic regime will emerge in the Land of Golden Pagodas for mutual benefits.
Expecting a stable democratic regime in Myanmar
