Ruag
FULL MEMBER
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2009
- Messages
- 754
- Reaction score
- 0
Myanmar seeks Indian military assistance
Myanmar seeks Indian military assistance
SHILLONG, April 10 – Myanmar has requested India for military assistance for coordinated strikes against North East militants holed up in that country.
Myanmar’s Ambassador to India, U Kyi Thein said Myanmar has made a request to India during the last Foreign Secretary level meeting between the two countries at Naypyidaw, Myanmar, for military assistance.
“India and Myanmar need to work together and India have agreed to provide our military requirement to fight insurgents,” the Ambassador to India told The Assam Tribune.
He, however, did not give specifics about the kind of military assistance Myanmar has sought only reiterating the request for the “requirement” has been made.
The beleaguered military Junta have its own share of insurgency problem with outfits like Kachin Independent Army (KIA) and Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) operating in different parts of that country.
Thein said once India provides Myanmar with the “requirement a coordinated military operation” against militants would begin.
The Myanmar Ambassador did not elaborate if the coordinated strikes against militants would also include fighting the Myanmarese militants, especially the KIA having close links with the NSCN (IM and K), ULFA and several Manipur-based outfits.
“We also have militancy problem and we understand India’s concerns and wanted this problem to be sorted out. We have always stated to the Indian Government that Myanmar would not allow its soil to be used by militants,” Thein added.
Militancy, Thein added, stems from poor socio-economic opportunities and both India and Myanmar must work together to provide social justice to its population, especially those residing along the remote Indo-Myanmar border.
“Poverty and lack of education is encouraging militancy. We (India-Myanmar) need to work out together to solve these issues,” he said at the sidelines of the international BIMSTEC seminar here.
Myanmar’s policy, he added, is now to develop infrastructure in the border with special emphasis on developing connectivity. “There is the need to extend the railway line from Jiribam, Manipur to the nearest rail network in Myanmar,” he added.
Myanmar seeks Indian military assistance