• Burmese
Friday, July 11, 2025
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Irrawaddy
26 °c
Yangon
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Junta Watch
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Books
  • Donation
No Result
View All Result
The Irrawaddy
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion Editorial

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Goes to India

The Irrawaddy by The Irrawaddy
October 17, 2016
in Editorial
Reading Time: 3 mins read
0 0
A A
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi at the Bimstec summit in Goa, India. / Ministry of Information / Facebook

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi meets State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi at the Bimstec summit in Goa, India. / Ministry of Information / Facebook

11.8k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Historically, Burma has enjoyed strong relations with India, not with China.

During the country’s independence movement many Burmese politicians had great associations with India. Gen Aung San, Burma’s independence hero, was closely connected to India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and his family. Gen Ne Win, Burma’s strong-man dictator, had close relations with the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her family.

Buddhism travelled from India to Burma and today, an increasing number of Burmese pilgrims travel to Bodh Gaya in northern India, one of Buddhism’s holiest sites.

RelatedPosts

The Lady Myanmar’s Generals Can’t Defeat

The Lady Myanmar’s Generals Can’t Defeat

June 19, 2025
1.2k
Myanmar’s Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Marks 80th Birthday in Junta Jail

Myanmar’s Daw Aung San Suu Kyi Marks 80th Birthday in Junta Jail

June 19, 2025
596
On Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Birthday, Recalling the Cake That Rattled the Junta

On Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Birthday, Recalling the Cake That Rattled the Junta

June 18, 2025
1.3k

The wily British—as many senior Burmese like to call them—administered Burma as a province of India when they colonized the country in the 19th Century. Burma’s last monarch King Thibaw spent his final days as a prisoner of the British colonialists in India’s Ratnagiri, a port city on the Arabian Sea.

The king, his family, and many patriotic Burmese will never forgive the British. But when young students began to think of liberating their country from British rule, they looked to India and forged connections with politicians and activists there. Burma and India shared a common dream to be liberated from colonialism. During the colonial period, many wealthy Burmese parents sent their children to India to study.

This week, State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi lands in Goa to attend the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (or Bimstec) summit. We will see if and how India’s Burma policy will bring more meaningful engagement between the two countries. Likewise, Burma will re-engage India under a new government that is obviously struggling to rebalance its strategic relations with powerful China.

There is no doubt that we share a common ground. New Delhi is hoping to strengthen warm relations with Burma and Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is no stranger to India. Her mother Daw Khin Kyi served as ambassador to India in 1960, she became the first woman to serve as a head of the Burma mission abroad. A young Daw Aung San Suu Kyi went along. India’s then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who knew Aung San, made a special arrangement for the Aung San family to live on New Delhi’s 24 Akbar Road in a colonial-era complex designed by Edwin Lutyens.

In late August this year, India’s External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj visited Burma and met with the State Counselor. New Delhi wanted Daw Aung San Suu Kyi to pay an official visit to India, but the new leader made a pragmatic decision to visit China instead. Instead, Burma’s President U Htin Kyaw made a four-day visit to India in August. It was obvious, however, that New Delhi was looking to have a substantive dialogue with Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, not with U Htin Kyaw.

Burma shares a 1,600 km land boundary with India’s northeastern states and India is anxious about a separatist movement on the India-Burma border. Ethnic rebels such as the Assamese, the Manipuri and the Naga have been known to take refuge in Burma and launch raids back across the border. During her visit, Swaraj received assurance that the Burmese government would not allow any insurgent groups to use its territory in attacks against India.

Likewise, India offered to assist the new government in its uphill battle to transform an old system of government. New Delhi has been monitoring closely the recent attacks on the Burma-Bangladesh border by militants with alleged links to terrorist organizations. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi will listen to the advice of her Indian counterparts.

Aside from limiting China’s influence over Burma, New Delhi wants to engage on the economic front—particularly the energy sector. India is said to be very interested in importing gas and oil from Burma.

India’s Look East policy—in which the country sought deeper relations with Southeast Asia—was well publicized, but many Burmese feel New Delhi’s engagement lags behind that of Beijing’s. In the geopolitical game, China is ahead of India in Burma. However, to put it frankly, China is not popular among the Burmese people.

Since taking office, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi developed Look East into Act East. How India and Burma engage during Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s visit will be vital to his Southeast Asian policy.

Your Thoughts …
Tags: BimstecColonialismDaw Aung San Suu KyiIndiaNarendra ModiSouth East Asia
The Irrawaddy

The Irrawaddy

...

Similar Picks:

Myanmar’s Blackout Junta Seeks Solar Power Aid From Neighbors
Burma

Myanmar’s Blackout Junta Seeks Solar Power Aid From Neighbors

by The Irrawaddy
February 14, 2025
14.9k

China and India have been approached for help with solar power projects, the electricity minister says, as the country’s chronic...

Read moreDetails
Junta Watch: Sinking Feeling as Myanmar Navy Faces Onslaught in Rakhine; and More
Junta Watch

Junta Watch: Sinking Feeling as Myanmar Navy Faces Onslaught in Rakhine; and More

by The Irrawaddy
January 27, 2024
14.3k

Also this week, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s home to be sold, Karen mission fails, ultimate penalty for beaten generals,...

Read moreDetails
China and the Wars in Myanmar
Guest Column

China and the Wars in Myanmar

by Bertil Lintner
January 21, 2025
10.7k

Recent truces declared by ethnic armies show that China is still the only outside power that can intervene in Myanmar,...

Read moreDetails
Myanmar Junta Rejects Bangladeshi Call for Rohingya State
Burma

Myanmar Junta Rejects Bangladeshi Call for Rohingya State

by Maung Kavi
May 2, 2025
10.4k

A political party in Bangladesh says a Rohingya-majority area of Rakhine State should become an independent state for returning refugees.

Read moreDetails
Myanmar’s Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in ‘Strong Spirits’, Son Says
Burma

Myanmar’s Daw Aung San Suu Kyi in ‘Strong Spirits’, Son Says

by AFP
February 7, 2024
6.9k

Kim Aris said a letter he received from his mother last month thanking him for a care package was "the...

Read moreDetails
AA Chief: Neighbors Propping Up Myanmar Junta
Politics

AA Chief: Neighbors Propping Up Myanmar Junta

by The Irrawaddy
April 11, 2024
6.4k

Arakan Army leader Major General Tun Myat Naing says neighboring countries are allowing the regime to remain in power.

Read moreDetails
Load More
Next Post
Members of an aid delegation tour IDP camps surrounding Sittwe on Friday. / Hein Htet / The Irrawaddy

Aid Delegation Meets Displaced Arakan State Communities

Location of the rescue operation near Michaung Dwin village in Kani Township. / The Irrawaddy

Sagaing Ferry Accident Kills at Least 29

No Result
View All Result

Recommended

‘Reforms Are Not Optional’: Prominent Activist Urges NUG to Act Before It’s Too Late

‘Reforms Are Not Optional’: Prominent Activist Urges NUG to Act Before It’s Too Late

2 days ago
963
Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

Trump’s Tariffs to Hit Myanmar’s Garment Manufacturers Hard

2 days ago
963

Most Read

  • Chinese Investment Reshapes Myanmar’s N. Shan as MNDAA Consolidates Power

    Chinese Investment Reshapes Myanmar’s N. Shan as MNDAA Consolidates Power

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Myanmar Junta Deploying Conscripts in Major Push to Reclaim Lost Territory

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Junta Bombing of Resistance-Held Areas in Mandalay, Karenni Kills Seven Civilians

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Two Prominent Myanmar Ex-Political Prisoners Die Hours Apart in Yangon

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Chin Resistance Tensions Boil Over as CNA Seizes Rival’s Myanmar HQ

    shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Newsletter

Get The Irrawaddy’s latest news, analyses and opinion pieces on Myanmar in your inbox.

Subscribe here for daily updates.

Contents

  • News
  • Politics
  • War Against the Junta
  • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
  • Conflicts In Numbers
  • Junta Crony
  • Ethnic Issues
  • Asia
  • World
  • Business
  • Economy
  • Election 2020
  • Elections in History
  • Cartoons
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Commentary
  • Guest Column
  • Analysis
  • Letters
  • In Person
  • Interview
  • Profile
  • Dateline
  • Specials
  • Myanmar Diary
  • Women & Gender
  • Places in History
  • On This Day
  • From the Archive
  • Myanmar & COVID-19
  • Intelligence
  • Myanmar-China Watch
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Food
  • Fashion & Design
  • Videos
  • Photos
  • Photo Essay
  • Donation

About The Irrawaddy

Founded in 1993 by a group of Myanmar journalists living in exile in Thailand, The Irrawaddy is a leading source of reliable news, information, and analysis on Burma/Myanmar and the Southeast Asian region. From its inception, The Irrawaddy has been an independent news media group, unaffiliated with any political party, organization or government. We believe that media must be free and independent and we strive to preserve press freedom.

  • Copyright
  • Code of Ethics
  • Privacy Policy
  • Team
  • About Us
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Burmese

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • Burma
    • Politics
    • World
    • Asia
    • Myanmar’s Crisis & the World
    • Ethnic Issues
    • War Against the Junta
    • Junta Cronies
    • Conflicts In Numbers
    • Junta Watch
    • Fact Check
    • Investigation
    • Myanmar-China Watch
    • Obituaries
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Commentary
    • Guest Column
    • Analysis
    • Editorial
    • Stories That Shaped Us
    • Letters
  • Ethnic Issues
  • War Against the Junta
  • In Person
    • Interview
    • Profile
  • Business
    • Economy
    • Business Roundup
  • Books
  • Donation

© 2023 Irrawaddy Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.