Myanmar acts on India plea, deports 22 N-E insurgents
NEW DELHI: The Myanmar military handed over 22 North-east insurgents to the Indian government on Friday and the group, wanted in Manipur and Assam, was being brought back to the country by a special plane, people familiar with the developments said.
“This is a huge step for the Myanmar government and a reflection of the deepening ties between the two countries,” a top government official told HT on the condition of anonymity soon after an aircraft with the insurgents took off from Myanmar. The plane was to first make a stopover in the Manipur capital of Imphal, before heading to Assam’s Guwahati. “The insurgents would be handed over to the local police in the two states,” the official said.
“This is the first time that the Myanmar government has acted on India’s request to hand over leaders of the North-east insurgent groups,” a senior national security planner said about the operation driven by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval.
The development was seen as a result of increasing intelligence and defence cooperation between the two countries.
Among those deported by
Myanmar were some senior and long-wanted Indian insurgent leaders such as NDFB (S) selfstyled home secretary Rajen Daimary, Capt Sanatomba Ningthoujam of UNLF and Lt Pashuram Laishram of PREPAK (Pro).
Twelve of the 22 insurgents are linked to four insurgent groups in Manipur: UNLF, PREPAK (Pro), KYKL and PLA. The remaining 10 are linked to Assam groups such as NDFB (S) and KLO.
The treacherous terrain along India’s over 1,600-km border with Myanmar makes the area ideal for camps of insurgent groups that have been fighting the Indian state for decades.
But pressure has been building on the insurgent groups over the last few years after the Myanmar military agreed to conduct operations.
Last year, the Myanmar army
› This is the first time that the Myanmar government has acted on India’s request to hand over leaders of the Northeast insurgent groups. A SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY PLANNER
carried out continuous operations through February and March 2019 on the basis of pinpointed intelligence provided by Indian security agencies.
The Myanmar army attacked multi-group terror camps at Taga in the north of the country across the Vijaynagar salient in Arunachal Pradesh in the first phase, and decimated Arakan, Nilgiri and Haukyat camps in the second.
The 22 insurgents were caught by the Myanmar army in Sagaing Region in these operations.
A national security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Myanmar’s decision to hand over the insurgents was a huge message to the outfits that Naypyidaw is in sync with New Delhi on dealing with them.
Indian officials expect Myanmar’s action to be a deterrent to groups that had assumed the dense forests across the border could insulate them from action. Just as the one created by the United Arab Emirates, once considered a haven for Indian criminals on the run, when it started deporting criminals and terrorists wanted in India.
“If Pakistan also acted against terrorists as these two countries do, then there would hardly be any terror group there too,” a senior national security official said.