![]() ![]() It remains to be seen what consequences the Manipur ambush will have on future India and Myanmar relations. The others came from China, Russia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. Significantly, India was also among eight countries that sent a representative - its military attaché - to attend the Myanmar Armed Forces Day parade in Naypyitaw on March 27. Immediately after the coup, India’s army chief, Manoj Mukund Naravane, stated that a “series of operations” together with the Tatmadaw “has witnessed growing cooperation and synergy between the soldiers on ground with reasonable operational dividends.” Rawat then stated that India needs to closely monitor the emerging situation in Myanmar where China, he said, is making further inroads after international sanctions were re-imposed on the country after the February 1 coup: “The BRI of China is bound to get further impetus with the sanctions on Myanmar.” India’s chief of defense staff General Bipin Rawat stated that publicly at a July 24 military webinar on “Opportunities and Challenges in North East India.” Russia is among them but its motivations are largely commercial as Myanmar is a major buyer of Russian-made military equipment.Ĭhina has vital geostrategic interests in Myanmar facilitated by its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), and India’s reluctance to condemn the coup stems largely from its concern Beijing will leverage the crisis to consolidate its regional ambitions. Since the coup, Myanmar is again isolated and has few foreign allies. Much to New Delhi’s chagrin, Myanmar authorities often denied the existence of such camps. ![]() ![]() A map depicting where northeast India meets Myanmar. Myanmar’s inability or unwillingness to uproot those rebel sanctuaries has been a persistent thorn in the side of the two neighbor’s bilateral relations, contributing to mutual distrust and suspicion over the years. Those Naga groups also benefited from a supply of arms from China until Beijing’s policy of supporting them changed in the 1980s. Naga rebels from the Indian side have had bases in Myanmar’s Naga Hills since the Indian army drove them across the border in the 1970s. Those groups, too, have long enjoyed sanctuaries on the Myanmar side of the border. The MNPF is a small group of ethnic Naga militants which operates separately from the main National Socialist Council of Nagaland (or Nagalim) followed by the various initials of their respective leaders. All of the Meitei rebel outfits seem to combine a leftist agenda with demands for Manipuri independence from India. The PLA carried out a number of attacks in the Imphal valley, the Meitei-inhabited heartland of Manipur, before splitting up into different factions and the remnants retreated across the Myanmar border.īesides the RPF/PLA, there are several other Meitei rebel groups, among them the People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK), the United National Liberation Front, and the Kangleipak Communist Party. Its founders were originally trained by the Chinese in a military camp near Tibet’s capital Lhasa. The PLA, the armed wing of the Revolutionary People’s Front (RPF), has been active among the Meiteis since the 1970s. The Tatmadaw’s use of such proxy armies is bound to intensify, local sources say, as its manpower becomes increasingly stretched as even usually calm central regions of the country have become battlefields since the coup. India shares a 1,600 kilometer-long, porous border with Myanmar and the mountainous terrain makes it easy for rebel fighters to slip back and forth undetected by authorities.Įthnic Naga, Manipuri and Assamese rebels from northeastern India have for years maintained bases in Myanmar’s Sagaing Region, from where they often launch attacks on Indian forces and then fade back across the border.Īn obscure outfit known as the Zomi Revolutionary Army, presumably an ethnic Chin or Mizo outfit, attacked a camp set up by anti-coup forces in Tedim, Chin State, in late September. Seven people including the commanding officer of an Assam Rifles paramilitary unit, his wife, their six-year-old son and four other riflemen were all killed when the convoy they were traveling in came under fire from People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and Manipur Naga People’s Front (MNPF) rebels.īoth rebel groups are known to have sanctuaries across the nearby Myanmar border and reports indicate they may have retreated across the line after the deadly ambush was carried out. CHIANG MAI – When separatist rebels launched a lethal ambush in India’s northeastern state of Manipur on November 13, the shadowy attack acted to bring India and Myanmar’s hot-and-cold bilateral relations to a new boil. ![]()
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