Burmese Food Popular in North East India

Mizzima News 

January 11, 2005 

Three states of northeast India - Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland - bordering Burma, are now more dependent on Burmese products, from essential commodities to various Burmese food items now sold in markets in these states. 

Burmese potatoes, cabbage and herbs are available in the border markets. The Burmese sell their products on the Indian side to get some money with which they support their small families. Moreover, with the growing demand for their products, Burmese farmers come to bordering areas of India so they can earn something.

Pitha, which are made of rice, are widely used in the Indian amilies. "Not only the food items, even vegetables, are sold in the markets as per demand of the people," Laila Singh, a Manipuri trader, told this correspondent today. Laila said the quality of Burmese vegetables and other food products are good, so the Indian people prefer them. "Burmese rice and vegetables have a good demand in northeast India and we have a substantial amount of trade with the Burmese people," he added.

Moreh, said to be one of the major trade points of northeast India with Burma, has a special Burmese vegetable market in which traders come from farflung areas to buy their goods. In the vegetable market Burmese traditional foods are also sold by the women, who come from Tamu and nearby villages to sell their products.

The trade is also more apparent in Longwa and Champha, in Nagaland and Mizoram respectively. Burmese people come to the areas early in the morning to sell their products. But in Longwa vegetables and rice are exchanged for salt and medicines under the barter system. According to local people, salt and medicines are very scarce in bordering areas of Burma, hence people prefer the barter system. Commenting on the growing market in northeast India, SN Singh, a leading social scientist, observed that the new market has further strengthened bilateral relations among Burmese and Indian people.

"There is no reason for panic as the poor Burmese villagers sell their little produce," Singh said by telephone. According to him, India has a long cultural and traditional relationship with Burma and, since the trade agreement, has further cemented it as a healthy sign for any country. "I think that now new trend of trade would benefit both Indian and Burmese poor people to a large extent," he added.