From CK Nayak
New Delhi: As hinted by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, the Myanmar Government has ordered all the Northeast militant outfits to close their camps in its territory and leave the country within a fortnight, official sources said here on Wednesday.
Talking to the newspersons on board Air India One during his return to Delhi late Tuesday night, Dr Singh had stated that Myanmar President U Thein Sein has assured him that his country’s territory will not be allowed to be used for anti-India operations by the militants.
“We have also agreed to strengthen cooperation ensuring that our borders are peaceful,” Dr Singh said.
When prodded further, the Prime Minister said that some major achievements have been made in this regard, but he refused to divulge the details.
“I have some definite information but I do not want to disclose anything at this point of time,” he had said.
Official sources here said that Myanmar’s powerful army which controls the quasi-military Government has ordered the Northeast militants to close their camps and vacate the country within a fortnight. The move which was decided on the eve of the Prime Minister’s visit was implemented as a goodwill gesture.
There are about a dozen camps of Manipur-based insurgent groups like PLA and PREPAK across the Indo-Myanmar border where more than 2,000 armed cadres are taking shelter, the sources said.
There are smaller camps of other insurgent outfits as well, it added.
The development has great importance for India, mainly the North-eastern region, since the militants were first evicted from Bhutan, followed by Bangladesh and now Myanmar. It will be very difficult for the extremists to carry on their operations since all the accessible counties have denied them sanctuary.
There is a new found bonhomie between India and Myanmar with Dr Singh’s three days official visit to the country. Even the state-controlled Myanmar’s official media said that the country attaches great importance to relations with India and stressed that ‘both India and Myanmar need each other’.