Indian MPs’ calls for Myanmar border regions to join India greeted with scepticism, rejection

A recent suggestion by some Indian parliamentarians that parts of Chin State and the Kabaw Valley in Sagaing Region should secede from Myanmar and join India has received neither support nor much serious consideration from the Myanmar side.On March 10, during a session of India’s Upper House, the Rajya Sabha, Mizoram State MP Leishemba Sanajaoba—who hails from India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)—proposed incorporating the Kabaw Valley into Mizoram.This came just weeks after another Upper House MP from the state, K. Vanlalvena, visited Chin State and, during a meeting with Chin armed resistance forces, suggested joining with Mizoram, according to a report by the India-based The Hindu news agency.Salai Dokhar, founder of the civil society group India for Myanmar, which studies India-Myanmar relations, said calls to incorporate the Kabaw Valley into India’s Manipur State were not practical.“The only way it could potentially happen is if the Indian central government takes military action. The possibility of the Indian central government militarily claiming the Kabaw Valley is extremely unlikely,” he said.He also noted that the proposal might be related to upcoming elections in Indian states bordering Myanmar.“Since it’s completely impossible, this demand or movement is just a political slogan for elections in their states, with no practical chance of happening,” he said.Regarding Vanlalvena’s trip, he suggested that India’s central government may have played a role behind the scenes.“Even though this was not an official trip, I believe it demonstrates many aspects of the central government policy,” he said, adding that there has been some shift in the Indian government’s thinking about the situation in Myanmar, as resistance forces continue to expand their control over border areas.“If they had a specific policy, they could do much more. There is no specific policy. But their considerations regarding Myanmar affairs have changed quite a bit,” he said.Since seizing power four years ago, the regime has lost control of many territories across Myanmar, including nearly all of the country’s northwestern region bordering India. Resistance forces have captured five of Chin State’s nine townships, accounting for nearly 80 percent of the state’s total area.This is not the first time Indian politicians have expressed an interest in taking territory from Myanmar. In 2013, the BJP campaigned to claim the Kabaw Valley area, which includes Tamu, Kalay, and Mingin townships in Sagaing Region, prompting protests from locals. Mizoram State MP K Vanlalvena speaks at a gathering hosted by the anti-junta Chinland Council in Chin State on February 27 ‘We are brothers’ During his day-long trip to Chin State in late February, Vanlalvena entered territory controlled by Chin resistance forces, visited the Chinland Council office, and met with Chin armed groups.Salai Htet Ni, spokesperson for the Chin National Army (CNA), said that during the Indian MP's day trip, he visited their headquarters and some other resistance force locations, and they discussed difficulties including refugee issues.“Since we are all of the same descent and are brothers, rather than thinking in terms of this country or that country, he spoke about collectively addressing national security,” Salai Htet Ni told Myanmar Now.“Rather than focusing on whether to join with them or not, our stance is on our goal of overthrowing the military dictatorship and building a federal democratic union.”The CNA, a long-standing ethnic armed organisation in Myanmar, signed the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement during the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi but has stood with other resistance forces since the 2021 coup.Vanlalvena, who often raises issues related to Myanmar in India’s Parliament, also travelled to Chin State’s Paletwa Township last March for talks with the Arakan Army, which controls the township. The two sides discussed work on a section a road being built in Paletwa as part of the Myanmar-India Kaladan Project.Veteran pro-democracy lawmaker Pu Pa Thang, who heads Chin State’s resistance government, said the Mizoram parliamentarian's trip was an informal visit based on friendship, and there were no political discussions.“We have good relations with the state government because we are brothers. As for relations with India as a whole, we can’t say the relations are good yet. However, as revolutionary forces [in Myanmar] seize more territory, I see them showing more green lights than before,” he said.On Thursday, the junta’s spokesperson, Maj-Gen Zaw Min Tun, criticised the Indian MPs for calling for secession.“They shouldn’t damage bilateral relations by looking at just one political desire,” he said, adding that “they should respect Myanmar’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”Of the more than 1,010 miles of border between India and Myanmar, over 907 miles have been demarcated, and the Kabaw Valley region is included in the recognised and measured territory, the regime said in a statement.Regarding border demarcation, the junta said that a Memorandum of Understanding on Myanmar-India Border Area Cooperation was signed on May 8, 2014.

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