India–Myanmar

Connectivity and internal security pull India's Myanmar policy in opposite directions, making every engagement decision also a security calculation. Myanmar is India's only land-and-maritime neighbour and sole land bridge to Southeast Asia, making it structural to the Act East policy. Connectivity runs through the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project, linking Kolkata to Sittwe port and on to Mizoram, and the Trilateral Highway to Thailand. The Free Movement Regime lets border-belt residents cross without a visa, but insurgent sanctuaries and refugee flows complicate it. The February 2021 military takeover sent refugees into Mizoram and Manipur.