India has time and again reiterated that Myanmar has a priority in line with India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ and ‘Act East’ policies

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has congratulated State Counsellor of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi and her party National League for Democracy (NLD) on winning the recently held parliamentary elections saying that the successful conduct of polls is another step in the ongoing democratic transition in Myanmar.

Taking to twitter to congratulate the leader of Myanmar, he wrote, “Congratulations to Daw Aung San Suu Kyi & NLD for victory in the elections. The successful conduct of polls is another step in the ongoing democratic transition in Myanmar. I look forward to continuing to work with you to strengthen our traditional bonds of friendship.”



Myanmar went under Parliamentary elections on November 08. Aung San Suu Kyi’s party managed to win 346 seats. According to the Burmese constitution, 322 seats in the bicameral legislature are needed to form the government.

India and Myanmar have seen a cordial relationship and the partnership has grown in the past few years with India increasing its partnerships with the ASEAN nations. Myanmar is a part of the ASEAN group which has 10 countries in total.

In fact, in the past few months, India has seen an inclination towards Myanmar. The recent meetings between the two nations exemplify the same. India has always considered Myanmar as an important part of India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ Policy.

The visit by Chief of Army Staff General MM Naravane and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla to Myanmar last month is an example of the same.

During the visit, the two nations agreed to further strengthen their partnership in connectivity projects, capacity building, power and energy, deepen economic and trade ties, facilitate people to people and cultural exchanges, and broad-base their defence exchanges across all the three services.

Both sides agreed to deepen cooperation to overcome the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Army Chief and the Foreign Secretary presented 3000 vials of Remdesivir to the State Counsellor, symbolic of India’s commitment to assist Myanmar in its fight against the pandemic.

Prior to that, India and Myanmar held discussions on October 1 during the 19th round of Foreign Office Consultations held through virtual mode. Both nations reviewed the status of India’s ongoing development projects in Myanmar, trade and investment ties, power and energy cooperation, consular matters and cultural cooperation, including the ongoing restoration work on earthquake damaged pagodas in Bagan.

The trade relations between the two nations is also booming. According to the data by the Ministry of External Affairs, India is the fifth largest trade partner of Myanmar, as of March, 2018, fifth largest export destination for Myanmar and sixth largest source of imports into Myanmar.

India has time and again reiterated Myanmar has a priority in line with India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ and ‘Act East’ policies.