Published on: March 2026 2026
INDIA-MYANMAR BILATERAL RELATIONS:A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PAST AND PRESENT
Suman panda
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Abstract
India's bilateral relations with Myanmar, a neighboring country on India's eastern border, are very important. The former name of Myanmar was 'Burma' or 'Brahmadesh'; in ancient times the name of this region was 'Swarnabhumi' or 'Subarnabhumi,' which means 'Golden Land.' Every state gives priority to national interests in determining its foreign policy, and the relationship between India and Myanmar is no exception. Although the diplomatic and political relations of the two countries have been mentioned in official documents since 1948, in the real sense, social exchanges and cultural contacts between the two countries are ages old. For thousands of years, this relationship has been strengthened. Buddhist philosophy has deepened the relationship between the two countries. Both countries fell victim to British imperialism and were long exploited, oppressed, and made miserable by the colonial powers. Both countries gained independence after a long struggle. The two newly independent countries cooperated with each other in the interests of rapid poverty alleviation, nation building, infrastructure development, and internal development. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, and U Nu, the first Prime Minister of Myanmar, had a special contribution in establishing relations between the two countries. After independence, diplomatic, political, commercial, military, and strategic relations were officially established between the two countries. But over time, the relationship between the two countries has changed. The main reason for this is the political instability in Myanmar. So sometimes there was the rule of a democratic government in this country, and sometimes military rule prevailed for a long time. In such a situation, the relationship between a democratic government like India and the military-ruled government of Myanmar has been strained. Apart from this, the smuggling of drugs in the areas adjacent to the border between the two countries, the scourge of separatist groups, the influence of one of the biggest powers, China, India's policy towards Southeast Asia, etc., have made the relationship between the two countries a complex equation.
How to Cite this Paper
panda, S. (2026). India-Myanmar Bilateral Relations:A Brief History of the Past and Present. International Journal of Creative and Open Research in Engineering and Management, <i>02</i>(03). https://doi.org/10.55041/ijcope.v2i3.111
panda, Suman. "India-Myanmar Bilateral Relations:A Brief History of the Past and Present." International Journal of Creative and Open Research in Engineering and Management, vol. 02, no. 03, 2026, pp. . doi:https://doi.org/10.55041/ijcope.v2i3.111.
panda, Suman. "India-Myanmar Bilateral Relations:A Brief History of the Past and Present." International Journal of Creative and Open Research in Engineering and Management 02, no. 03 (2026). https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.55041/ijcope.v2i3.111.
References
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