{"id":38208,"date":"2023-11-18T09:39:19","date_gmt":"2023-11-18T04:09:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=38208"},"modified":"2025-04-23T08:52:08","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T03:22:08","slug":"myanmar-flare-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/myanmar-flare-up\/","title":{"rendered":"New Flare-Up in Myanmar"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why in news?<\/li>\n<li>Background: ongoing fighting in the Rikhawdar area<\/li>\n<li>The current round of fighting<\/li>\n<li>How is the current situation different from the protests and fighting of the last two years?<\/li>\n<li>What does this situation mean for India?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Why in news?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Ministry of External Affairs has expressed deep concern over the ongoing fighting in the Rikhawdar area in Myanmar\u2019s Chin State.\n<ul>\n<li>The area is close to the border with India opposite Zowkhathar in Mizoram.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>This fighting has led to Myanmarese nationals crossing to the Indian side.<\/li>\n<li><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/media\/editor_images\/2023\/11\/18\/13\/17\/13\/65586c016ea81070ecdb772c_OI.PNG\" alt=\"\" \/><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Background<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Myanmar has been in flames ever since the military seized power on February 1, 2021.\n<ul>\n<li>On this day the new parliament elected after the November 2020 elections was to convene.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs) have joined armed civilian groups called People\u2019s Defence Forces (PDFs) to take on the military.\n<ul>\n<li>These groups have allied with the country\u2019s self-declared National Unity Government in exile.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The resistance forces have captured two towns close to the India-Myanmar border after fierce fighting.<\/li>\n<li>The fall of the latter, Rikhawdar, has resulted in the influx of some 5,000 refugees into Mizoram.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>The current round of fighting<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>It began on October 27 with surprise attacks in Shan State in North Myanmar along the border with China, by the Three Brotherhood Alliance.\n<ul>\n<li>The alliance is a front of three EAOs:\n<ul>\n<li>the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA),<\/li>\n<li>the Ta\u2019ang National Liberation Army, and<\/li>\n<li>the Arakan Army.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The offensive was named Operation 1027, after the date on which it was launched.<\/li>\n<li>The resistance forces are reported to have overrun more than 100 military outposts in Shan State and seized control of crucial border towns and checkpoints.\n<ul>\n<li>This includes Chinshwehaw, a <u>critical point on the China-Myanmar border trade route<\/u>, which is an important source of revenue for the junta.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Fighting has also broken out elsewhere in the country, led by various local resistance forces.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>How is the current situation different from the protests and fighting of the last two years?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Fierce multi-pronged resistance\n<ul>\n<li>Despite a brutal crackdown, including carrying out airstrikes on rebel gatherings, the junta has not succeeded in establishing control over large parts of the country.<\/li>\n<li>The ongoing <u>multi-pronged offensive by the resistance forces is seen as the stiffest challenge<\/u> to the junta since the coup more than two and a half years ago.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Members of the Myanmar army and police are surrendering\n<ul>\n<li>Among those who fled to Mizoram after Rikhawdar was captured by Chin fighters, were 73 members of the Myanmar army and police.<\/li>\n<li>Rebel groups have claimed that members of the junta forces have surrendered elsewhere, too.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Coordination among the various rebel groups\n<ul>\n<li>What distinguishes the current offensive is:\n<ul>\n<li>the unprecedented level of coordination among the various rebel groups, and<\/li>\n<li>the inability of the military to mount an adequate response.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Support from China\n<ul>\n<li>The resistance in Shan State appears to be receiving tacit support from China, Myanmar\u2019s giant neighbour and biggest trade partner.<\/li>\n<li>China has been pressing the military government to crack down on the enclaves of <u>scam centres on the Myanmar-China border<\/u>, which have been targeting Chinese citizens.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Country might be split into various parts\n<ul>\n<li>If the government does not effectively manage the incidents happening in the border region.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What does this situation mean for India?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Creating a balance\n<ul>\n<li>India has so far walked a fine line between expressing concern at the <u>interruption of democracy in Myanmar, and engaging with the junta to protect its vital interests<\/u>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Immediate concern for India\n<ul>\n<li>The influx of Myanmarese nationals in the border states of the Northeast.<\/li>\n<li>This too at a time when the situation in Manipur remains volatile.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>Capturing of two important towns by rebels\n<ul>\n<li>The anti-junta forces have captured two important towns close to the only two border crossing points between Myanmar and India. These are:\n<ul>\n<li>Rikhawdar, close to Zokhawthar in Mizoram, and<\/li>\n<li>Khampat in Sagaing region, around 60 km from Moreh in Manipur.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The latter (Khampat in Sagaing region) is also part of the proposed India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway project.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Q1)\u00a0What is Rikhawdar area?<\/h3>\n<p>Rikhawdar is a border town in the Falam District of Chin State, Myanmar. It&#8217;s located opposite Zokhawthar in Mizoram, India. The town is also known as Rih.<\/p>\n<h3>Q2)\u00a0What is India-Myanmar-Thailand trilateral highway project?<\/h3>\n<p>The 1,400-kilometer highway begins in Moreh in India&#8217;s Manipur state, passes through Myanmar, and ends at Mae Sot in Thailand.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/the-new-flare-up-in-myanmar-9031588\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>The new flare-up in Myanmar<\/u><\/a><u> | <\/u><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/india\/40-myanmar-army-personnel-who-fled-to-mizoram-amid-conflict-sent-back-9026986\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Indian Express<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Myanmar shares a long land border with India as well as a maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":38209,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-38208","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38208\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38209"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}