ISAS Working Papers

In light of India's changing foreign policy over the last decade, Indo-Myanmar relations have also changed radically. The reasons thereof pertain principally to four factors: the economic development of India's North East, India's increased interest in trade with ASEAN, India's search for energy security and increased Chinese involvement in Myanmar. This paper offers an in depth analysis of these issues, drawing on seven weeks of fieldwork during the summer of 2007 and over 50 interviews with officials and academics in both countries. The summary of the fieldwork is listed below. The paper concludes that, although today Indo-Myanmar relations have improved, India has, in essence, been too slow to develop this important relationship and is now loosing out to China.