Within Indian academia, there is much to develop regarding knowledge about Myanmar. India's two-track engagement with Myanmar commenced in 1991 and until 2021, resulted in 30 successful years of bilateral engagement.
On 1st February 2021, that changed with Senior General Ming Aung Hlaing's coup d'etat and the ensuing violence which has already claimed over 700 lives. In such tragic circumstances, 'business as usual` is no longer a viable foreign policy option. With this backdrop, Irrawaddy Imperatives: Reviewing India's Myanmar Strategy, though written well before the coup, provides a fresh and original perspective to India's relationship with Myanmar. In reviewing India's Myanmar strategy, the book uses three principal approaches; the borderland studies approach, the geographic realism approach, and the third concurrent approach - the centrality of the Northeast and its people as the principal stakeholders in India-Myanmar relations. The book attempts to create a policy for India towards Myanmar, arguing that a strong and developed Myanmar is the best bet for India and for the development of India's Northeast. For this, Indian businesses have to invest in Myanmar, especially along the India-Myanmar border.
