Myanmar heads to the polls in December amidst a festering conflict, now running on five years. At home, the balance of power is constantly shifting between the military and the anti-junta forces. Internationally, there is a growing fatigue with resolving the conflict. However, for the ruling military this election is strictly about putting the derailed train of ‘limited democracy’ back on track.

The Thai–Cambodia border dispute, which erupted anew in July, is 70 years old, and there’s no resolution in sight. Both nations have differing political ambitions: Thailand seeks to reclaim former territories while Cambodia aims to retain its sovereign rights. This contestation requires a regional political resolution, but Malaysia’s ASEAN chairmanship failed to forge consensus. Can the new chair, the Philippines, resolve it?

The 46th ASEAN Summit led by Malaysia in the chair, concluded in May. Malaysia is one of the founding members of the ASEAN, and is fully cognisant of its prolonged challenges, but as chair it has not addressed the issues. It raises questions on whether the stated deliverable of “inclusivity and sustainability” is merely a diversion from the country’s weakening leadership in the region.

Building a robust engagement with India on energy can help offset some of the economic and political crises that most of India’s neighbours are facing. Smaller South Asian neighbours will benefit from cheaper electricity and oil, paving the way for greater regional economic cooperation.

A proposed humanitarian corridor from Bangladesh to Myanmar’s suffering Rakhine state is the need of the hour. But Chief Advisor Yunus has linked it with repatriation of the Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh, mixing up unrelated issues. This is a classic ploy to distract the public from his own shortcomings, and his single-minded focus to extend and legitimise his regime.

The March 28 earthquake in Myanmar has devastated a country already in civil war. Multiple groupings and militias now occupy different parts of Myanmar, leaving its neighbours and the international community concerned about which stakeholder to engage with for provision of humanitarian relief, particularly those areas beyond the writ of the ruling military. What can India do to help?

February 1 marks four years of the military coup in Myanmar, which plunged the country into a bloody civil war, still on-going. The crisis is deepening, as the struggle between the Junta forces and a fragmented resistance wages on with no resolution in sight. A stalled mediation by ASEAN, and lack of consensus amongst neighbouring countries on how to help, leaves Myanmar’s future uncertain.

Gateway House presents a timeline that highlights the cross-border dynamics between Myanmar and India’s northeast. Myanmar’s military coup and breakdown of authority have aggravated existing local problems related to population displacement, border security, competition for resources and ethnic tensions. Now India must engage more directly with the entities that control land along its borders, and the local communities who know it best.

Over three years of civil war in Myanmar, and there is no end in sight. The country’s stakeholders are unable to de-escalate the conflict or reliably distribute aid to those affected. Friends, including India, must step in — not only to stop the fighting and alleviate the suffering, but to help facilitate a return to normalcy.

The parallel political and security crises in Myanmar and Manipur have led Indian authorities to consider abolishing the Indo-Myanmar Free Movement Regime (FMR). However, without long-term policy efforts to ameliorate the political and economic situation along the border, ending the FMR and fencing the Indo-Myanmar border is unlikely to resolve India’s security problems in the region.