Myanmar’s military leader Min Aung Hlaing visited India from May 30 to June 3, 2026, marking his first official foreign trip as the country’s self-declared president. Despite his role in the 2021 coup and ongoing civil conflict, New Delhi received him as a legitimate head of state. For Min Aung Hlaing, the visit offered a rare opportunity to seek international legitimacy after years of bloodshed and isolation, while for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it was a strategic engagement with a volatile neighbor sharing a 1,643-kilometer border.

The visit highlighted India’s growing reliance on Myanmar’s junta for border security and infrastructure projects such as the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project and the Trilateral Highway. However, much of the planned route lies in rebel-controlled areas beyond the junta’s authority. Analysts argue that Modi’s government risks repeating China’s mistake of treating the junta as Myanmar’s sole sovereign power, ignoring ethnic armed groups and the opposition National Unity Government.

The report concludes that India should balance its engagement by pressing the junta to halt airstrikes near the border and by opening dialogue with ethnic forces controlling key transit zones, as current strategies may undermine both stability and democratic credibility.