When a neighbour changes the head of the family, relationships often take a nosedive or are rebuilt. This is even more likely in a particularly volatile neighbourhood like India’s.

With at least five nations either going to polls in early 2026 or have just concluded the process in India’s immediate and distant backyard, it is time to assess the nation’s ability to influence, accommodate, and assimilate the outcomes with its own regional ambitions.

Myanmar and Thailand just finished choosing representatives, while tumultuous Bangladesh polls are on Thursday. Nepal elections are scheduled on March 5 and single-party Vietnam chooses its representatives to Parliament on March 15.

Let us have a quick look at each of these elections and why their outcomes are important for India.

Myanmar’s phased parliamentary election, held from December 2025 to January 2026, has been widely touted as a sham carried out by the military junta to legitimise its rule five years after the 2021 coup.

The Washington Post reported: “Myanmar’s military choreographs an election, with Beijing’s help: With war raging in large parts of the country, the junta staged a vote to cement its power."

The junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won by a landslide, getting over 72 per cent of contested seats (231 in the lower house and 108 in the upper house) amid low turnout, voter repression, and exclusion of major opposition like the Aung San Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy.

The outcome cements junta leader Min Aung Hlaing’s control, with no end to the civil war and instability.

Myanmar’s military authoritarianism........

© News18