India’s eastern neighbour, the land of golden Pagodas, usually receives media headlines for wrong reasons. Myanmar (also known as Burma and Brahmadesh), adjacent to the north-eastern region, often emerges as a matter of serious security concern for New Delhi. At least three north-eastern States (Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram) face the influx of people from a number of northern Myanmar localities as the southeast Asian nation continues witnessing a civil war like situation for decades. The initiative to fence the 1,643-kilometer border with Myanmar goes on to prevent various crimes including illegal drugs smuggling from the notorious Golden Triangle. New Delhi has also maintained a comfortable relation with the Myanmar government as its newly inducted President Min Aung Hlaing was welcomed on an official visit to India in recent days. Nonetheless shocking statistics regularly surface from the military controlled country, where at least one hundred thousand people have reportedly been killed in relentless conflicts since 1 February 2021 military coup dethroning a democratically elected government (led by pro-democracy icon Daw Aung Sang Suu Kyi) in Naypyidaw. UN rights expert Kelley Anne Eckels-Currie, while addressing the UN General Assembly on 27 October 2026 in New York, revealed the horrific picture of Myanmar. The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights also termed the current President as a tyrant, who continues using the same tactics to terrorize the common people by deliberately attacking civilians.
As the country is engulfed in a widespread turmoil since the 2021, where the government forces have been facing widespread armed resistance groups, frequent air attacks on crowded areas have become a normal scenario in various regions. It has compelled millions of Myanmarese to leave their villages to take temporary shelters in abandoned localities with no basic amenities for months. According to the office of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than four million individuals were internally displaced till September this year across the Buddhist majority country of 55 million people. Many of the displaced families have entered as refugees in neighboring countries like Thailand, India and Bangladesh. The United Nations recently estimated that over 16 million people in Myanmar now require humanitarian assistance. Alleging a fraudulent practice in the 2020 national elections, where the Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy (NLD) won in a landslide victory across Myanmar, the Min Aung-led military seized power. Later he took charge as the President of Myanmar orchestrating a contested military-run election in the Parliament. Ms Kelley commented that even though junta leader Min Aung has changed his military dress (in April 2026), he’s still the same ruthless dictator. The government machinery had arrested thousands of anti-junta activists including politicians and media professionals. According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, over 32,000 people were detained since the 2021 takeover, where no less than 15,000 along with around 20 media workers remain under detention.
Today, the ethnic armed organizations and pro-democracy People’s Defence Forces (under the exile National Unity Government) maintain control over 42 percent of the country’s landmass, where the military junta (Tatmadaw) sticks to only 22% areas of Myanmar including its capital city Naypyidaw and some major urban centers. Vast areas under Sagaing and Magway regions as well as Kachin, Shan, Karenni (Kayah) and Karen (Kayin) States have turned into battlegrounds where gun fighting continues. Amidst all developments, the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic armed group remains active in western Myanmar, has occupied 14 townships (out of total 17) in Rakhine (Arakan) State as well as Paletwa township of neighbouring Chin State that borders India and Bangladesh. Reports of gun fighting between the military personnel and AA fighters are now pouring from the outskirts of Sittwe (the Rakhine capital city), Kyaukphyu and Manang Island. Meanwhile, Myanmar’s UN envoy Kyaw Moe Tun (who was appointed before the 2021 coup) called on the international community to block all kinds of aid to the military regime. Speaking at a UN committee to discuss the Myanmar situation recently, Moe Tun also urged the concerned member states to immediately stop supplying weapons and jet fuel to Myanmar as the supplied fuel is used to conduct airstrikes on civilians.
A serious matter of observation, concern and necessary actions for the central government indeed !
A killing field adjacent to North-east
