Arunachal-Myanmar border has become a safe route for militants from that side
As per reports, ultras currently based in Myanmar have found a new route to enter India. Revelations made some months ago — and still relevant — by security agencies in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh highlight the fact that the Arunachal-Myanmar border is turning out to be a safe route for movement by militants. Earlier, the militants sneaked into the region mostly through the porous Nagaland-Myanmar border. This information, although not very new, should alarm the State of Arunachal Pradesh and its new Government. The State can face trouble if strong action is not taken. Militants in the North-East get sanctuary in either Bangladesh, Bhutan or Myanmar. In the 1990s, Bangladesh and Bhutan were safe havens for most of the insurgents. Media sources say that one of the reasons behind the influx of militants was a secret understanding between India's intelligence agency, the Research & Analysis Wing and the Burmese rebel groups such as the Kachin Independence Army, the Chin National Front and the National Unity Party of Arakans. The objective of forging such ties was strategic — denying a safe passage to all the North-East ultras in Myanmar. But in course of time, the insurgents, with the help of both, money and rediscovering their ethnic roots in Myanmar, tuned the situation in their favour. And, the clandestine network of the militants of the region continued in that country throughout the long rule of the junta. The situation has not improved much, even as a democratically elected Government has taken charge in Myanmar. However, after having reached considerable understanding with Governments of Bhutan and Bangladesh, the ultras have quietly shifted their bases to Myanmar. Indeed, top terror organisations like the United Liberation Front of Asom and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (I-M), have used Myanmar for training and recruiting purposes.
What the Government now needs to do is to have a complete understanding with the Aung San Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy Government in Myanmar for denying spaces to militants in that region. More than this, New Delhi must also find out ways and means to reach out to the provincial Governments in Kachin and Arakan, through Naypyidaw so that the issues are sorted out at the ground level immediately. The Government must use the influence and power of the de facto leader Suu Kyi, who is also seriously concerned about bringing a lasting solution to the country's long-standing insurgency problem. Meanwhile, the Government of Arunachal Pradesh had months before convened a high-level meeting with senior officers of the Army and the paramilitary forces, where steps needed to thwart the movements of the ultras were discussed. Constant vigil is the need of hour in the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border to prevent the inter-State movement of militants.
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