Myanmar’s Senior General, Min Aung Hlaing, has triggered a controversy by saying in an interview that the terrorist organizations active in his country are backed by “strong forces”. The remark comes in the backdrop of mass displacement in Rakhine, Myanmar’s southwestern province, where the Asian giants, China and India, are building infrastructural projects. The Myanmar military spokesperson, Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, reportedly elaborated on the comment made by the commander-in-chief of Myanmar’s armed forces that by ‘terrorist organizations, the military chief was referring to the Arakan Army (AA) and the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA)’.
Rakhine has emerged as a place of geostrategic significance for India and China. A China-Myanmar oil and natural gas pipeline was put in place in 2013 and the 1,420 kilometre-long crude oil pipeline became operational in 2017. The project, which starts from Rakhine’s seashore facing Bay of Bengal, has strategic significance as the pipeline would enable China’s oil and gas imports to reduce their burden on the Malacca Straits, a narrow channel that connects the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. In January this year, the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, visited Myanmar and a number of bilateral agreements were announced, including one for the development of a special economic zone and a deep-water port at Kyaukphyu in Rakhine state. India, too, is heavily invested in Rakhine as it is building the Kaladan project. The multi-modal transit transport project will lessen the distance between Calcutta and Sitwe, the capital of Rakhine, and provide another link to India’s Northeast in addition to the Siliguri corridor.