India issues advisory against travel to Myanmar’s Rakhine over ‘deteriorating’ security situation

Amid the tense situation in Myanmar, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday advised Indians not to travel to Rakhine state. The MEA has also advised Indian citizens currently living in Rakhine state to leave the state immediately.

Also read: India to fence Indo-Myanmar border, says Amit Shah; ongoing work in Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur

“In view of the deteriorating security situation, the disruption of telecommunications, including landlines, and the severe shortage of essential goods, all Indian citizens are advised not to travel to Rakhine state. Myanmar. Those Indian citizens who are already in Rakhine state are advised to leave the state immediately,” the MEA said in an official release.

Also read: The ghost of partition past lingers as Delhi mulls fencing the British-era India-Myanmar border

Last week, India expressed concerns over the “deteriorating” situation in Myanmar and called for an early resolution of the conflict.

The Myanmar crisis also found its mention in the MEA’s weekly press conference where it called for the “complete secession” of violence and Myanmar’s transition to “inclusive federal democracy”.

Myanmar crisis

In particular, there has been a significant increase in violence in Myanmar in recent months. In what can be called the biggest challenge to the junta’s rule since 2021, three ethnic minority forces launched a coordinated offensive against the military regime in October last year. Ethnic forces have also taken over some towns and military posts.

In December last year, at least 151 Burmese soldiers fled to Mizoram to escape an armed ethnic group. They entered India after their camps in Myanmar were attacked by a pro-democracy ethnic group. The incident was among several instances when Myanmar soldiers entered India to save themselves from attacks by ethnic minority forces.

In November 2023, as many as 104 soldiers crossed the India-Myanmar border and fled to Mizoram after their camps were overrun by the pro-democracy militia – People’s Defense Force (PDF).

The current situation in the country has also led to a large influx of people from Myanmar into Mizoram along the Indo-Myanmar border. It has been three years since the military seized power in Myanmar in a February 2021 coup.