China And Myanmar Sending Arms to N-E Militant Groups

NEW DELHI: The Border Security Force confirmed that the north east insurgent groups receive a “substantial quantity” of illegal arms and ammunition from China and Myanmar. It has also not ruled out the role of Bangladesh as a conduit on the illegal arms route.

While speaking to the media on the sidelines of a programme in Meghalaya, Sudesh Kumar, Inspector General of BSF in-charge of Meghalaya frontier said, “There are isolated instances of arms and ammunition entering into the country across the international border with Bangladesh, but a substantial quantity was coming from the international border with Myanmar and China.”

He further pointed out that, “ security forces operating in the borders of China and Myanmar have seized huge consignments that were meant for rebel outfits operating in the region”.

Giving an example of the same Kumar said “On several occasions, the Unified Command and Assam Rifles have intercepted huge consignment of arms and ammunition in Assam which were meant for rebel outfits operating in Meghalaya”.

Citing intelligence reports, Kumar said, “Most of the arms smuggled into India are dropped in Dimapur(Nagaland) and is then illegally transported to various parts of the region and the rest of the country.”

It may be mentioned here that recently, several GNLA sympathizers were arrested while smuggling arms and ammunition from Dimapur.

Citing the main cause as demography for this lag , the BSF officer said “Unlike in the western frontier( referring to Pakistan), where manning of the border is much easier due to the topography, guarding the eastern frontier is much more difficult owing to the hilly rugged and mountainous terrain as well as poor visibility (that) adds to the woes of our troopers”

Additionally, Kumar, who looks after the 443-km International border with Bangladesh also stated that the BSF has still intensified its vigilance along the India-Bangladesh border even though fencing the the India-Bangladesh border cannot be the only deterrent to check the flow of arms and ammunition, again stressing on the revelations about China and Myanmar.

Also, the BSF had earlier ruled out any nexus any nexus between Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and militant outfits, particularly those in Meghalaya.

Recently, Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma had also said that quite a huge quantity of arms and ammunitions are now available across the northeast while citing intelligence reports.

"Where are these guns coming from? That means there is some formidable anti-national force working overtime, and that is why these guns and explosives are coming. This needs to be addressed jointly by all the state governments and the Centre," he had stated.