Jan 24: In a major diplomatic breakthrough, India got firm assurances from Myanmar of getting its cooperation to nab Indian northeast militants including eluding ULFA leader Paresh Baruah. Agreement was also arrived at for launching coordinated operations to root out this menace for all time to come.
An Indian home ministry official disclosed this to media persons in New Delhi today. The spokesman said that Myanmar extended this assurance to New Delhi in the recently concluded home secretary-level-talks between the two countries. According to agreement, "Security forces of India and Myanmar will conduct coordinated operation in their respective territories in the next two-three months."
The spokesman explained that the objective of the operation was to ensure no slipping out of any militant "to the other side after facing heat in one side." Indian officials said,"we have conveyed to the Myanmar delegation that we have information that Paresh Baruah is hiding in their territory and they assured us to track him down if found in their territory." The security forces of both countries would also intensify their vigil along the border to check smuggling of arms, narcotic drugs and other goods.
According to intelligence sources, almost all the major insurgent groups in the northeast India like NSCN and ULFA now operate over two dozen camps and training centres along both sides of 1,650 km long India-Myanmar border, encircling Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram. It is believed that ULFA 'commander-in-chief' Paresh Baruah is hiding somewhere in the Kachin area of Myanmar.
The Indian delegation, headed by union home secretary G K Pillai, had held extensive discussions with the Myanmar contingent led by Brigadier General Phone Swe on issues like border security, cross-border movement of militants, border trade and cross-border projects.
Meanwhile, a disturbing news from east Assam alarmed Guwahati. According to the news, passengers of Arunachal Express they had a narrow escape today as a powerful explosion ripped apart a stretch of the railway track some 30 minutes before the train was to pass that area in Assam.
According to state police, the blast occurred early Sunday near Dekamishing village in Dhemaji district, about 370 km east of Assam's main city of Guwahati.
"A powerful bomb was detonated on the rail-tracks, damaging at least 10 metres of the rail-track". Police blamed the outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) for the attack.
Meanwhile, the security forces killed two militants of the outlawed National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) in separate shootouts today in western and northern Assam districts of Kokrajhar and Udalguri. A security official told media, "Both the NDFB militants were killed in separate raids with intelligence inputs indicating that they were planning to stage attacks ahead of Republic Day."
In another development, the Indian Railways decided to suspend the running of all night trains in Assam from today to January 27 midnight in view of the general strike called by five militant groups - the ULFA, the NDFB, Manipur People's Liberation Front, Kamtapur Liberation Organisation and Tripura People's Democratic Front - in the northeast on January 26.