Naypyidaw/New Delhi, April 11 India's recent engagement with Myanmar has remained cautious shaped by security, strategic and economic concerns and the need to counter-balance China’s growing influence in the region.
However, the ground realities present another picture driven by borderland communities and deeply inter-linked local economies, a report said on Saturday.
Writing for Myanmar's Institute for Strategy and Policy, Ophelia Yumlembam of Organisation for Research on China and Asia (ORCA) opined that this is most evident in India's north-eastern state of Mizoram.
Although India's central government has directed states to restrict cross-border influx, the state government has instead sheltered thousands fleeing, especially from Myanmar’s Chin State.
“This response is rooted in the deep ethnic and cultural affinities between the Mizo people of Mizoram and the Chin communities in Chin state, both of whom identify under the Chin-Kuki-Mizo ethnolinguistic family. Official estimates suggest over 32,000 refugees are currently in Mizoram, though the actual number may be higher. Local organisations and church groups have been central in providing food, shelter, and basic healthcare despite limited resources,” Yumlembam mentioned.
“In towns like Zokhawthar in Mizoram, just across from Myanmar’s Rikhawdar, the movement of people has remained steady since violence intensified in Chin state following Operation 1027 and the subsequent airstrikes by the junta. Many displaced families fleeing the atrocities under the military junta have settled in border districts such as Lawngtlai and Zokhawthar. For Mizoram, extending asylum and aid is not seen merely as humanitarian assistance, but as a responsibility toward an extended community bound by history and identity,” she added.
According to the researcher, beyond cultural affinities, especially in states like Mizoram and Manipur, local economies are closely interconnected and have long dependent on designated trading points for access to goods.
For decades, she said, small traders, transporters, and households have made regularly crossed these trading points, with livelihoods built on a steady flow of informal and semi-formal trade.
Yumlembam stressed that the India-Myanmar border reveals not just “a story of crisis” but also showed shows how relationships can evolve beyond conventional diplomatic frameworks.
In this context, she said, the borderlands provide key insights into how regional ties endure through periods of uncertainty.
“For India, this underscores the need to complement its broader strategic approach with sustained sensitivity to local realities. Recognising the role of border communities and the changing dynamics on the ground can help ensure that its engagement remains responsive and forward-looking, particularly as Myanmar’s political situation evolves. The extent to which these connections are recognised and integrated into future policy frameworks will be critical in shaping bilateral relations, particularly since the bordering states in Myanmar are now under the control of local ethnic armed groups," Yumlembam noted.
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