By Ankit Panda
India and Myanmar will expand defense cooperation and work on monitoring insurgent activity along their border.
On Thursday, India and Myanmar announced that they would deepen their defense cooperation. A joint consultative commission, chaired by Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Burmese Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin in New Delhi announced a defense assistance program which will see India help the Burmese Army and Navy modernize. Myanmar has been an important peg in India’s decades-old ‘Look East’ Policy, which the current Indian government recast as an ‘Act East’ policy some months ago. Defense cooperation between the two neighbors has grown since Myanmar’s political reforms under President Thein Sein, which resulted in Myanmar becoming less exclusively reliant on China.
A joint statement released by the joint commission announced the expansion of defense assistance from India to Myanmar:
India is committed to support the modernization of Myanmar Armed Forces and would be happy to share its experience in functioning in a democratic environment, in creating a national army, cooperation in the field of IT, in dealing with emerging security challenges, and military to military cooperation including in terms of training. She also expressed India’s commitment to cooperate with Myanmar in building a professional and capable Myanmar Navy to safeguard and ensure its maritime security.
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