Russia has quietly opened a nuclear technology Information Centre at Yangon in Myanmar in the midst of the Ukraine War which does not appear to be ending any time soon. The Russia-Myanmar initiative can be seen as Moscow’s quiet but effective return to the Indo-Pacific region which potentially gives Russia’s diplomacy strategic depth in bilateral relations.

Russia’s civilian nuclear cooperation in Asia is not new. In the past, India, Bangladesh and now Myanmar are beneficiaries of Russian civilian nuclear technology. It started with India in the 1960’s leading up to building the Koodamkulam nuclear power reactor in south Tamil Nadu. The Koodamkulam agreement was inked with the erstwhile Soviet Union in 1988 and construction began in 2022. Russia kept up with civil nuclear cooperation and by mid-1980s India leased two nuclear-powered cruise missile submarines.

Russia-India bilateral civil nuclear cooperation was expanded in 2018 to include Bangladesh. It was agreed to build the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant nuclear power-plant with India as the third partner. However, Bangladesh had already begun initial work on the project in 2017. The tri-nation agreement provides for Russia supplying its VVER-1200 reactor and the nuclear fuel to Bangladesh, while India is involved in construction and installation as well as supplying non-critical equipment.

In this background, Russia opening a nuclear technology information centre at Yangon, Myanmar on February 7, 2023 is a significant development. The Information Centre is seen as the first step by Russia to help this Southeast Asian nation launch its Small Nuclear Power Plant that would focus on power generation as well as other civilian applications. The Centre is in line with the ‘Roadmap on cooperation in the field of peaceful use of atomic energy for 2022-23’ identified by the two nations, on the side-lines of the VII Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok in September 2022.

Russia has also been eyeing other Southeast Asian nations as strategic partners in the civilian nuclear domain. Moscow has signed agreements on nuclear science cooperation with Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Philippines, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. These and others make a list of 28 nations that either are working towards harnessing nuclear science as a source of energy or have expressed interest.

Nuclear power as a reliable source of energy and has been under consideration for use since a long time. However, in recent years, with growing concerns over energy security and the steady shift to green energy, nuclear energy, though expensive in terms of setting up of nuclear plants, seems to be capturing the imagination of several smaller nations.

At another level, nuclear cooperation between nations is not limited to the energy sector; it also implies political signalling between the partnering nations and can be seen as a reflection of the tacit alignment of interest in a larger geo-political context. It should also be seen in the context of larger national pride, given the exclusionary nature of the lopsided Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT).

It was for these very reasons that the agreement between Australia, the UK and the US (AUKUS) for developing nuclear-powered submarines, resulted in concerns in many capitals who argued that this was a deviation from the core principles of NPT.

There are at least four key takeaways from the Russian civil nuclear engagement with Myanmar. First, many countries are now seeking reliable and affordable sources of energy. This is notwithstanding the fact that a number of Western nations, who have been traditionally reliant on nuclear energy, are down-sizing their dependency on the nuclear energy, especially in the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan.

Second, they see Russia both as a reliable supplier and have confidence in reliability of Russian civil nuclear technology despite the Chernobyl nuclear disaster (1986).

Third, the Russia-Myanmar civil nuclear deal should be seen as emerging trends in global political alignment especially since the outbreak of the Ukrainian crisis.

Four, there is now a growing trend in de-dollarizing the global economy, where smaller nations have found, both a need and opportunity. Interestingly, Bangladesh has opted to repay Russia for the Rooppur project in Chinese Yuan. The choice is prompted mainly by the US-led western sanctions on Russia.

In this backdrop, the Russian partnership in the Bangladesh nuclear programme, to be followed possibly by one with Myanmar and others in the wider neighbourhood, is not to be seen only in terms of a bilateral arrangement with limited geo-strategic implications. Instead, it has a possible beginning of re-writing the international economic order that challenges the US dollar and its predominance.

Dr. Sripathi Narayanan is a foreign policy and a security analyst based in New Delhi.