Myanmar Army Chief's visit to fine-tune security strategy
Source: The Sangai Express / Nitin Gokhale/ABP Live

New Delhi, July 25 2015 : The four-day visit of Myanmar's Army chief starting on Sunday should help India review and fine tune its security policy in the North-east.

This development is seen as a major breakthrough in view of recent attacks on Indian security forces in the North East and the cross-border raid conducted by Indian Special Forces on camps run by Khaplang faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-K) .

There have also been reports of desperate attempts by the Paresh Baruah faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) to revive itself ahead of the Assembly elections in Assam, scheduled for next summer.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the current comman-der in chief of the Myanmar Army, is scheduled to arrive in Delhi on Sunday.

He is expected to hold talks with India's national security adviser Ajit Doval, India's army chief Gen Dalbir Singh and a host of security and intelligence officials.

Gen Min Aung's visit comes on the back of intelligence reports that the ULFA has sent back a batch of 140 members after imparting arms training to them in Myan-mar's Sagiang division under the supervision of the NSCN(K).

Some of the cadres have been dispatched to create trouble in Assam in the run-up to Independence Day, intelligence sources have indicated.

Paresh Baruah, who has been the ULFA's military chief for nearly three decades now is seen as the force behind the recent coming to- gether of a number of insurgent groups from the North East under a new grouping called the United Nationalist Liberation Front of West South East Asia.

Barua is now the most trusted man of SS Khaplang, the ailing chief of the NSCN-K.Top security sources recently revealed that Khaplang is in fact out to project Paresh Barua as an important leader since two successive splits and defections in NSCN(K) over the past few years has weakened the organisation.

The recent attacks by the Khaplang group on security forces, especially the Assam Rifles and Army troops, across Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Manipur is an attempt to create fear among the civilians and establish its own importance so that the Govt of India comes under pressure to revive the ceasefire.

The ULFA and NSCN-K are trying to step up its fund collection by renewing extortion in Tinsukia and Dibrugarh districts of Assam, home to a large chunk of tea companies in the state.

Some big tea companies are reportedly paying to the ULFA in Kolkata, while the smaller gardens and other traders have to pay at the local level.

Aware of these developments, the government is likely to request the Myanmar Army chief to act against the Indian insurgent groups taking shelter in areas bordering the India-Myanmar border.

Joint operations are also likely to be launched along the border to neutralise the camps run by NSCN-K, ULFA and other Manipur-based insurgent groups.

The Myanmar Army chief is also scheduled to hold a meeting at the headquarters of the Indian Army's 3 Corps at Rangapahar in Dimapur after visiting Bodh Gaya.

Clearly, the visit of Myanmar's Army Chief and his meetings with India's national security establishment will surely help evolve a roadmap for the counterinsurgency strategy in the North East.

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