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Myanmar wants to distance from China. India offers a relationship without domination

President Hlaing is set to visit Bodh Gaya, hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi, participate in a business forum, and visit Mumbai for industry interactions.

Myanmar President Min Aung Hlaing landed in India today for his four-day official visit. Choosing India as his first foreign visit after assuming the presidency is rich in symbolism and strategic meaning. Hlaing is set to visit Bodh Gaya, hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi on 1 June, participate in a business forum, and visit Mumbai for industry interactions.

Many Myanmar watchers would have expected China to be Hlaing’s first destination. Beijing remains Naypyidaw’s most powerful external partner, having protected Myanmar diplomatically, invested heavily in infrastructure, maintained leverage over several ethnic armed organisations, and is deeply embedded in its border economy.

Hlaing’s choice of India suggests that the country wants strategic space. It may need China, but it does not wish to be trapped by China. The visit is a message—to India, to China, to ASEAN and to Myanmar’s own people—that Myanmar seeks alternatives.

Distancing from China

Myanmar’s military junta and people have always viewed China with a mixture of dependence, suspicion and resentment. China is useful because it provides diplomatic cover, investment and strategic support. But it is also feared because its influence reaches deep into Myanmar’s borderlands, ethnic armed groups and resource corridors. The old Burmese nationalist instinct has never been comfortable with excessive Chinese control. The military leadership, despite its present international isolation, remains deeply conscious of its sovereignty, which is why it does not want Myanmar to become a client state of China.

This unease has been sharpened by recent reports from Myanmar’s Northern Shan State, which borders China and where Beijing’s writ runs large. The Irrawaddy (an independent news organisation covering Myanmar) recently reported that Myanmar’s regime has pressured media outlets inside the country to take down stories alleging that China has erected border fences inside Myanmar territory. Local reporting has referred to possible encroachments near Chinshwehaw and........

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