New Delhi: Director General of Assam Rifles (AR) Lt Gen PC Nair has said that insurgents from the Northeast keep moving along the India-Myanmar border "taking advantage of ethnicity." Highlighting that India and Myanmar share an open and porous border, Lt Gen Nair said the India-Myanmar border is not like Pakistan and Bangladesh border.
"India's border with Pakistan and Bangladesh is fenced. Here,(India-Myanmar) is an open border and we have ethnicities, people have families on both sides. Insurgents take advantage of this situation and keep moving across on both sides," said Lt Gen Nair. He further said that movements of insurgents keep happening in these border areas.
"We have a system in place called free movement regime where 16 kms of both the sides of the border people are free to move," said Lt Gen Nair. After Bhutan conducted a flush-out operation against all Northeast insurgent groups based on their soil and Bangladesh too took a tough stand against all insurgent outfits, Myanmar for now is a safe haven for the insurgent groups.
Almost all the insurgent outfits including NSCN (Khaplang faction), Ulfa, KLO, and insurgents from Manipur have their bases in Myanmar. Although both India and Myanmar share a cordial relationship, thousands of Northeast militants have found Myanmar as a safe haven. As per an estimate, around 2500 militants from Naga, Manipuri, and Assamese ethnicity continue to use Myanmar as a terror launchpad.
China's involvement with Myanmar has also become a major cause of concern for India. On many occasions, when Tatmadaw (Myanmar military) conduct an offensive against Northeast militants, the rebels move to places that were beyond Tatmadaw's operational capabilities. "India-Myanmar share a good relationship for years. The cooperation is phenomenal. And it will continue to remain so," said Lt Gen Nair.
India shares a 1,643 km long border with Myanmar which passes through Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Nagaland (215 km), Manipur (398 km), and Mizoram (510 km). Out of 1,643 km, a demarcation of 1,472 km has been completed. There are two non-demarcated portions along the India-Myanmar border including the Lohit sub-sector of Arunachal Pradesh-136 kms and Kabaw valley in Manipur-35 kms.
A free movement regime (FMR) exists between India and Myanmar. Under the FMR, every member of the hill tribes, who is either a citizen of India or a citizen of Myanmar and who is a resident of any area within 16 kms on either side of the border can cross the border on the production of a border pass (one-year validity) issued by the competent authority and can stay up to two weeks per visit.
When asked about the government's move on repealing Armed Forces (Special) Powers Act, (AFSPA) from several places in the Northeast, Lt Gen Nair said that peace is certainly coming to the Northeast. "Let's hope things will be more peaceful and the government will be able to take a call whether to go ahead (with AFSPA) or not," Nair said.
Also read:Peaceful northeast is necessary for the success of India's Act East Policy: Assam Rifles DG
