India has told Myanmar to ask the Naga militant group led by S.S. Khaplang to stop helping other Indian rebel outfits. It has also decided not to renew its eleven year old truce with the NSCN (K). New Delhi has turned the heat on the Khaplang faction by signing a tit-for-tat ceasefire with a rival Naga group called the NSCN (Kitori-Khole). It has conveyed its disappointment to Myanmar with the ceasefire that the latter had signed with the NSCN (K) in April which was not pro-India. Myanmar has been told that a clause should be included in the agreement preventing the Khaplang group from giving support to other militant groups operating in the Northeast. The truce with the NSCN (Kitori-Khole) is supposed to be a countervailing influence not only against the Khaplang faction but also the NSCN (IM) whose talks with the Centre have so far been infructuous.
Shambhu Singh, Joint Secretary (Northeast) in the Union Home Ministry said that the government has asked the NSCN (Khaplang) to offer clarification on its help to Northeastern rebels on Myanmar soil. For instance, it has to explain how the members of a Manipur-based militant outfit had been held in a town in Myanmar. The Khaplang faction is hopeful that differences with New Delhi would be sorted out. The advent of democracy in Myanmar and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to the country should elicit a positive response from it. However, the main problem in Nagaland arises from the unnegotiable demands of the NSCN (IM). Withdrawing support to the Khaplang faction and pitting another Naga militant group against it may not help matters much. The feud between Nagaland and Manipur on territorial issues complicates the situation further.
