Politics straddling borders

Amid the din over electoral malpractices, two important events earlier this month went almost unnoticed.

- ADITI PHADNIS

On August 1, the military junta in Myanmar announced it had lifted the emergency imposed in February 2021 as a precursor to elections to be held in December this year; and on August 5, Parliament extended the President's rule in Manipur for another six months till February next year.

The two events, seemingly unrelated, combined with possible general elections in Bangladesh in February 2026, will have a profound impact on politics in the Northeast.

It is the world's worst-kept secret that Myanmar is in the grip of a ferocious civil war. The military has little or no control of the border provinces—especially the Shan state, which is on the Myanmar-China border—and the Chin state, which touches Manipur and Mizoram. China is extremely proactive in politics in the Shan state (and indeed in many other parts of Myanmar) as an outstanding study by scholar Amara Thiha in an edited volume about China's overt and opaque role in South Asia, recently published by the Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP), reveals. The strategy is simple: By ensuring Myanmar remains dependent on Chinese economic and military assistance, Beijing indirectly exerts pressure on India's Northeastern states, making New Delhi's regional security strategy even more complex.