Assam Rifles ordered to move closer to Burma border

by Salai Pi Pi
Monday, 19 October 2009 19:39

New Delhi (Mizzima) - The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs has directed the Assam Rifles, a paramilitary force based in the North-eastern region, to move closer to the India-Burma border and to intensify operations in curbing illegal activities, including insurgency along the border, Indian media reported on Sunday.

In a report on Sunday, the Press Trust of India (PTI), said the Assam Rifles, which was recently stationed about 40 kilometres from the international boundary of India and Burma, has been directed by the Home Ministry to move closer to the porous 1,631 km-long border with Burma to prevent cross-border activities including militancy, drugs and arms trafficking.

“We have directed the Assam Rifles to deploy forces closer to the border to stop militants and smugglers having a free run,” the report said quoting a Home Ministry official.

The orders to India’s paramilitary force to move closer to the border came following Indian Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor’s three-day visit, October 11 to 14, to Burma, where he met junta supremo Senior General Than Shwe and Vice Senior General Maung Aye and discussed cooperation between the two armies.

Before Kapoor’s visit to Burma, a meeting between Home Secretaries and Directors General of Police of India’s North Eastern states was held in Assam’s capital Guwahati, where it was agreed to formulate effective counter-insurgency operations.

Meanwhile, sources on the border said, though there are no signs of increased military activity, Assam Rifles battalions have begun moving closer to the Burma border in Manipur and Mizoram states. They have repositioned themselves about five miles from the border.

“Earlier, there were only about 20 soldiers in a camp near the border but now we notice there are at least 50 soldiers in one outpost,” the source said.

“They have also increased patrols along the border,” he added.

On Monday, the Assam Rifles, in a statement said, the troops detained a rebel belonging to the United National Liberated Front (UNLF) during a mobile operation on October 17, near Waikhong in Chandel district in Manipur near the border.

The Indian government has frequently sought help from the Burmese Army to flush out North-east rebels from its soil.

As a part of the two countries cooperation, both Indian and Burmese military also hold regular discussions on border security management including northeast insurgents. The 37th biannual military meeting between the two countries was held in Kalemyo in Sagaing Division, Burma in late August.