‘Myanmar to act against NE militant groups’

Nay Pyi Taw: Promising all possible support to India’s fight against terrorism, Myanmar has said it will bust training camps of North East militant groups on its soil if India provides specific inputs about their existence.
Asserting that his country will never allow any terror outfit to use its soil against India, Myanmar’s Information Minister U Ye Htut said his government will cooperate “fully” with the new Indian government in cracking down on militant bases, if there was any.
“If India gives exact information about the location and other information (about the militant training camps), then Myanmar is ready to take action against them,” Htut told PTI in an interview.
Myanmar, considered one of India’s strategic neighbours, shares a 1,640 km long border with a number of North Eastern states including militancy-infested Nagaland and Manipur.
India has been raising with Myanmar the issue of several North East Militant outfits having training camps in that country and it was taken up again by External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj during her visit here recently.
As per Indian security agencies, militant outfits like United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), the Nationalist Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K), Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) and People’s Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (PREPAK) have bases in Myanmar. “That area is mountaneous.
Our policy is not to allow any outfit to use Myanmar territory to attack any neighbouring country. Now we are trying our best and in recent months we captured lot of illegal arms along the Indian border,” Htut said.
Acknowledging India’s concern on the issue, he said the Myanmar government was keen to have better cooperation between militaries of the two countries to address the “problem”. “We will work more closely military-to-military to solve the problem. We will welcome if India shares information on movement of terrorists,” he said. Asked whether Myanmar will allow Indian security forces to carry out operation inside its territory to bust the militant camps, he said his country’s foreign policy does not allow such action. (PTI)