Embassy of India

Travel Routes

Air links with India / Convenient Travel Routes

1. Thai Airways flies daily to various cities in India via Bangkok;

2. Indian Airlines flies Kolkata-Yangon (to-and-fro) twice a week on Mondays and Fridays;

Indian Diaspora

The origin of the Indian community in Myanmar is traced back to the mid-19^th century with the advent of the British rule in Lower Burma in 1852. The two cities of Myanmar namely, Yangon (former Rangoon) and Mandalay had a dominating presence of Indians in various fields such as civil services, education, trade & commerce during the British rule. According to 1983 official census of Myanmar the number of PIOs in Myanmar is 428,428 and the estimated number of stateless PIOs is to be 250,000. A large number of the Indian community (nearly 150,000) live in Bago (Zeyawaddy & Kyautaga) and Tanintharyi Regions and Mon State and are primarily engaged in farming. The NRI families in Myanmar mainly live in Yangon and are engaged in export import business or are employees of MNCs based in India, Singapore and Thailand

Cooperation(Regional/Sub Regional)

ASEAN: Myanmar became a member of ASEAN in July 1997. As the only ASEAN country which shares a land border with India, Myanmar is a bridge between India and ASEAN. A few proposals for cooperation have been implemented and some are under discussions with Myanmar within the framework of ASEAN’s IAI programme.

BIMSTEC: Myanmar became a member of BIMSTEC in December 1997. Myanmar is a signatory to the BIMSTEC Free Trade Agreement. Myanmar is the lead country for the energy sector. Myanmar trades mostly with Thailand and India in the BIMSTEC region. Myanmar’s major exports to India are agricultural products like beans, pulses and maize and forest products such as teak and hardwoods. Its imports from India include chemical products, pharmaceuticals, electrical appliances and transport equipment. The 13^th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting was held in Myanmar in January 2011.

Mekong Ganga Cooperation: Myanmar is a member of the Mekong Ganga Cooperation (MGC) since its inception in November 2000. MGC is an initiative by six countries – India and five ASEAN countries namely, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam – for cooperation in the fields of tourism, education, culture, transport and communication. The chairmanship of MGC is assumed by member countries in alphabetical order.

SAARC: Myanmar was given the status of observer in SAARC in August 2008.

Cultural Exchange

Performances by Indian cultural troupes in Myanmar have been organised on a regular basis since 1997. Various cultural troupes have exchanged visits and performed in both countries. Myanmar musical band has been participating regularly in the Annual “South Asian Bands Festival” organized by ICCR since 2009. Embassy has been organizing the annual “Indian Film Festival” at Yangon, Mandalay and other important cities since 2005. In March 2010, a famous landscape artist from Myanmar went to Puducherry to participate in “South Asian Artists Camp” organized by ICCR and SEHER. The paintings emerging from that camp were exhibited in the Embassy Auditorium in November 2010 and received an outstanding response from the local community. Besides, there were exchanges of theatre artists for performance in each others’ countries from time to time under the aegis of prominent organizations. Another annual cultural event of the Embassy includes organizing qawalli show in Myanmar. There was a packed calendar of commemorative activities for the Rabindranath Tagore 150th birth anniversary celebrations, including a dance drama, seminar, artists’ camp, film festival etc. All the events were very well received by the Myanmar public and media. Classes in Bharatnatyam and Yoga have been started in the Embassy since December 2010, with the support of the ICCR.