Indian Troops Step up Burma Border Patrols

India has deployed more troops on its Assam border with Burma to counter illegal drug and arms trading by insurgent groups, according to sources in the region.

The deployment follows a three-day visit to the Burmese capital, Naypyidaw, last week by Indian Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor, during which he discussed counter-insurgency and border ethnic issues with junta leaders.

A Chin source living in Mizoram State said about 2,000 troops had been deployed in the four frontier states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.

The source, Ehang Len Piang, said: “Illegal heroin crossing the border from Burma is giving Indian authorities a headache.” Addiction among young Indians was a big problem, he said.

India has a 1,630 km border with Burma. Insurgent groups such as the United National Liberation Front (UNLF), the People’s Liberation Army, and Naga and Kuki forces are active in four border states—Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram.

The New Delhi newspaper Hindustan Times reported on Sunday that the trade in drugs and guns is carried out by Burmese Kachin, Wa and Shan armed ethnic groups and by Chins in western Burma. They also smuggled forged Indian currency into India, the newspaper said.

Lt Gen NK Singh, chief of the Indian Army’s 3rd Corps, told the Hindustan Times: “There have been quite a few seizures of small arms and drugs in recent months. Most of those involved were Chins, who have the advantage of looking like the Mizos of Mizoram and speaking a similar language.”

Min Tang, a member of the Chin National Council in India’s Mizoram State, said about 1,000 UNLF members lived on the Burmese side of the border.

He said they traded heroin and Chinese-made weapons with the Chin—and he accused Burmese officials of accepting bribes to allow the trade to continue.

Indian attempts to stem the trade and curb the insurgent groups have so far met with little success. Since 1993, the Indian government has developed a closer relationship with the Burmese junta, engaging in increased trade and providing it with military hardware.

The Burmese government has agreed to support Indian attempts to combat the insurgent groups and their illegal trading, but says it is difficult to access border areas because of poor roads.