India, one of the Myanmar junta’s closest allies, has urged the regime to protect its assets in the west of the country as fighting rages there between junta troops and ethnic forces.
India’s External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said he expressed Delhi’s “deep concern” over the issue on Wednesday during talks with junta foreign minister Than Swe.
“Met with Deputy PM and FM of Myanmar U Than Shwe [sic] as he transited New Delhi today,” Jaishankar said in a Facebook post on Wednesday.
“Discussed our deep concern at the impact of continuing violence and instability in Myanmar on our border.
“Pressed for credible security protection for our ongoing projects in the country,” the post continues.
India is funding the US $484-million Kaladan multimodal transport project in Myanmar’s western states of Rakhine and Chin. The mega-project is a crucial plank of India’s Act East Policy to counter China’s influence in Myanmar through its Belt and Road Initiative.
The Kaladan project will link the seaports of Kolkata and Sittwe in Rakhine State and extend to Paletwa in Chin State via the Kaladan River, then by road to Mizoram in northeast India.
Construction of the project was suspended following the 2021 military coup due to tension between junta troops and the Arakan Army (AA). The project has been shelved completely since the AA seized most of northern Rakhine and southern Chin State in an offensive launched late last year.
The rest of Chin State remains a resistance hotbed, with several Chin ethnic forces combining to fight the regime after the coup.
The AA currently controls Paletwa in Chin State and nine towns in northern Rakhine, where it is now advancing on Thandwe, home to the world famous Ngapali Beach.
Launched 12 years ago to provide an alternate route to India’s landlocked northeast, the Kaladan project had been scheduled for completion in 2023 after long delays. But the war in Rakhine and Chin states has shattered that plan.
Despite proclaiming itself the world’s largest democracy, India has strengthened ties with Myanmar’s regime since the coup, even as other major democracies shun it.
India has been assisting the regime in military, economic and diplomatic affairs along with its other two major allies, China and Russia. Delhi has also offered to help the junta hold a general election that has been widely condemned as a sham designed to cement military rule.
Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing demanded speedy completion of construction during his visit to the Kaladan transport project in March last year, when he also hailed India as a good neighbor and friend. His visit came after Indian Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra called for acceleration of the project during talks with the junta boss in Naypyitaw in November 2022.
Jaishankar said he urged an early return to the path of democratic transition for Myanmar in talks with Than Swe on Wednesday, adding that India was ready to help in any manner.
