New Delhi: India's former ambassador to Myanmar, Rajiv Bhatia, on Saturday in an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat, stated that while the Centre's decision to end the Free Movement Regime (FMR) is not a positive development for relations between India and Myanmar, the decision is imperative for security concerns.
"As regards the effect of India's Act East policy, I believe that it deals with a lot of other nations, and we sincerely hope that India will temporarily concentrate on nations other than Myanmar," he said.
In a significant development, India decided to end the Free Movement Regime (FMR) with Myanmar and embark on fencing the entire border. This decision comes amid concerns about national security and illegal immigration, particularly following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état. However, the Myanmar government has yet to respond officially to the decision.
The FMR, established in 1969, allowed residents within 16 km of the shared border to cross freely with a permit, facilitating trade, family ties and cultural exchange. “India wants Myanmar’s cooperation so that the security situation in the Northeast remains stable. There are anti-India insurgent groups because of the instability in Myanmar itself. The Myanmar government is hardly doing anything to curb it, and we want that to be changed," Bhatia added.
Speaking as to why Myanmar is significant for India, he said, “Myanmar is the frontline of ASEAN, and if we want to develop an economic relationship with ASEAN, then Myanmar plays a big role as a gateway to ASEAN," he added.
“India is concerned about the growing footprint of China in Myanmar, which is not good for our national security interests. Therefore, it is important for us to remain in touch not only with the government but also with the other stakeholders in Myanmar so that India is present all the time in whatever is happening economically in that country," said the ex-ambassador to Myanmar.
In the wake of the recent spike in conflict between the military Junta and the anti-Junta groups in Myanmar, Bhatia opined, “India’s policy towards Myanmar should be to keep in touch with the military regime in the country because New Delhi’s policy is to deal with whichever regime is in power, but at the same time, we should broaden our contacts with other stakeholders."
The ex-diplomat added, “India needs to work with like-minded countries like those of ASEAN, the Quad, and China for that matter to come up with a blueprint that we can present to our friend Myanmar to deal with the situation. I think this should be the central anchor of India’s policy towards Myanmar."
He further noted that India very much wants good relations with all its neighbouring countries, but it cannot be at the expense of the security and sovereignty of India.
He said, “If foreign elements are going to impact adversely on security, then the regulations have to be tightened. The idea of scrapping the FMR was requested by the government of Manipur, and there have been diverse reactions, but very clearly, people at the local level feel that this would hamper the positive cross-border activities like border haats, social visits, and the familiar link. Therefore, the balancing will have to be done, in short, it is an indispensable situation, and everything depends on how it is implemented".
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal in a regular media briefing on Thursday informed that the security situation in Myanmar’s Rakhine state is worrisome and critical, and the Indian side has issued an advisory asking its citizens to leave the region. “Indian nationals have also been advised against travelling to Rakhine State," he said.
Jaiswal said he did not have the exact number of Indian nationals present in Rakhine state, where India has had a consulate at Sittwe since 2014. “The security situation will have an impact on our consulate. We are looking at the situation, and we will see how best to deal with it,” he said.
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