India ties with Myanmar irk outfits in Northeast

Coinciding with the visit of Myanmar President U. Htin Kyaw, the separatist outfits of north-eastern states have intensified their aggression in the frontier states.

This was more visible on Tuesday when the anti-talk faction of Ulfa claimed to have launched a joint operation to what they described as “Operation Volition” against the Indian security forces.

Though Ulfa(I) in a press statement issued to newspapers through email claimed to have killed at least five Assam Rifle personnel in Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh on Monday, the Army desc-ribed it to be a false propaganda of the separatists.

The defence spokesperson, in a clarification, said that two Armymen suffered a minor injury in a skirmish with NSCN(K) rebels.

The Ulfa(I) also claimed that it was a joint operation of the United Liberation Front of West South East Asia (ULFWSEA) — a platform of nine major insurgent groups of northeast India, including the NSCN(K) and Ulfa(I) — operating from Myanamr.

It is significant that NSCN(K) rebels had launched a similar attack on the security forces on August 19, two days before Union external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj’s scheduled visit to Myanmar on August 21.

Indicating that the militant groups operating from Myanmar were not comfortable with the growing bilateral cooperation betw-een India and Myanmar, security sources said that the present regime in Myanmar was firm on enhancing the border management between the two neighbouring countries.

Informing that India and Myanmar have also resolv-ed to strengthen bilateral security and defence cooperation for maintaining peace and stability along the 1,640-km-long border, security sources admitted that aggressive posturing by the Northeast rebels reflect their concern and fear.