THE STRAITS TIMES
Dec 8, 2020,
Modi govt told of 4 most wanted insurgent leaders in Kunming to train, source for arms
Increased activity along the Myanmar border has sparked concern that
India's military is becoming stretched as tensions remain with China and
Pakistan on other parts of its land border.PHOTO: REUTERS
NEW DELHI • Indian officials say China is assisting rebel groups that have stepped up attacks on India's border with Myanmar in recent months, opening another front in the conflict between two nations already engaged in a deadly stand-off in the Himalayas.
Armed groups in Myanmar - including the United Wa State Army and the Arakan Army, which was designated a terrorist organisation this year - are acting as Beijing's proxies by supplying weapons and providing hideouts to insurgent groups in India's north-eastern states, according to Indian officials with knowledge of the situation, who asked not to be identified due to rules on speaking with the media.
The officials said multiple security agencies warned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government that at least four of India's most wanted insurgent leaders were in the southern Chinese city of Kunming to train and source for weapons as recently as mid-October.
The group - including three ethnic Naga rebels fighting for a separate homeland in an area straddling the India-Myanmar border - met acting and retired Chinese military officials as well as other middlemen who make up an informal network, the officials added.
On Sept 28, Indian border guards intercepted a large cache of weapons meant for Indian insurgent groups along the India-Myanmar border and arrested three suspected gunrunners.
On Sept 28, Indian border guards intercepted a large cache of weapons meant for Indian insurgent groups along the India-Myanmar border and arrested three suspected gunrunners.
The increased activity along the Myanmar border has sparked concern in New Delhi that India's military is becoming stretched, as tensions persist with China and Pakistan along other parts of its roughly 14,000km land border.
The officials said India moved several battalions of about 1,000 troops each into the Myanmar border area after a soldier was killed in an ambush on Oct 21.
In late October, Indian and Myanmar troops launched joint operations targeting Indian rebel groups, including one named the People's Liberation Army of Manipur.
Meanwhile, Myanmar's military has targeted armed ethnic groups, such as the Arakan Army, on its side of the border.
India's army chief travelled to Nagaland on Nov 24 for a three-day visit, underscoring the renewed intensity of the conflict.
China's Foreign Ministry denied claims that the country was supporting armed groups against India, saying it does not interfere in the affairs of other countries.
"China has always taken a prudent and responsible attitude toward arms exports," the ministry said in written responses to questions.
"We only conduct military trade in cooperation with sovereign states and do not sell arms to non-state actors."
The United Wa State Army also denied a role in providing any aid or support to Indian rebel groups on China's behalf, citing - among other factors - the over 804km distance between their headquarters and the India-Myanmar border.
Several dozen armed militias are active in India's north-east, fighting for independence or greater autonomy.
Indian officials said the recent upsurge in violence goes back to September, when Naga insurgents walked away from decades-long peace negotiations.
The officials said multiple security agencies warned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government that at least four of India's most wanted insurgent leaders were in the southern Chinese city of Kunming to train and source for weapons as recently as mid-October.
Asked by reporters on Nov 6 whether China was using armed ethnic groups in Myanmar to support Indian rebels, a senior Indian Home Ministry official declined to answer directly.
"Some of the insurgent groups are troublemakers, but we are negotiating peace with others," Mr Ajay Bhalla, a top bureaucrat at the Home Ministry, said at a webinar hosted by the National Defence College.
Both India and China are investing in Myanmar for strategic reasons.
"China knows that the region is crucial to India's future connectivity into South-east Asia," said professor of international relations Ian Hall of Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, and author of Modi And The Reinvention Of Indian Foreign Policy.
"It knows too that securing the region is challenging and has been very costly to New Delhi in the past."
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"We only conduct military trade in cooperation with sovereign states and do not sell arms to non-state actors."
The United Wa State Army also denied a role in providing any aid or support to Indian rebel groups on China's behalf, citing - among other factors - the over 804km distance between their headquarters and the India-Myanmar border.
Several dozen armed militias are active in India's north-east, fighting for independence or greater autonomy.
Indian officials said the recent upsurge in violence goes back to September, when Naga insurgents walked away from decades-long peace negotiations.
The officials said multiple security agencies warned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government that at least four of India's most wanted insurgent leaders were in the southern Chinese city of Kunming to train and source for weapons as recently as mid-October.
Asked by reporters on Nov 6 whether China was using armed ethnic groups in Myanmar to support Indian rebels, a senior Indian Home Ministry official declined to answer directly.
"Some of the insurgent groups are troublemakers, but we are negotiating peace with others," Mr Ajay Bhalla, a top bureaucrat at the Home Ministry, said at a webinar hosted by the National Defence College.
Both India and China are investing in Myanmar for strategic reasons.
"China knows that the region is crucial to India's future connectivity into South-east Asia," said professor of international relations Ian Hall of Griffith University in Queensland, Australia, and author of Modi And The Reinvention Of Indian Foreign Policy.
"It knows too that securing the region is challenging and has been very costly to New Delhi in the past."
BLOOMBERG
Link : Here
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