Army keeping a close watch on insurgents trying to enter Manipur from Myanmar: COAS Manoj Pande

At least 20 battalions of the Assam Rifles have been deployed along the International Border with Myanmar

Highly concerned over what is happening in Myanmar, the Indian Army is closely monitoring the situation along the International Border with Manipur. Chief of Army Staff Manoj Pande today said that forces are keeping a tight vigil since the violent situation in the neighbouring nation has forced insurgent groups to cross over to the Indian side in Manipur.

Determined to maintain peace and thwart any kind of threat to the nation, the COAS said that deployment of forces have been regulated along the border with Myanmar, especially keeping in mind of the prevailing situation in Manipur.

Brieefing the media, COAS Manoj Pande said, “The situation in Myanmar, now that has been of concern to us. You are aware of the activities of the Myanmar Army, ethnic armed organissation and the PDF in the recent couple of months, which has resulted in some of the Myanmar Army personnel walking across about 416 of them till date. What is of concern is because of the situation across the India-Myanmar border you also have some of the insurgent groups who are feeling the pressure and who now attempted to come on to our side of the border in Manipur. That is something and then that combined with the situation in Manipur is something we are keeping a close watch on. So what are we doing is we have strengthened posture, deployment on the Indo-Myanmar border. We have close to 20 Assam Rifles Battalions which are deployed there. There also a talk on a thought in terms of further strengthening our fence along the IB.”

The Army Chief maintained that all out efforts are being made to ensure that peace prevails in Manipur. In this context COAS Manoj Pande said, “Of course the state of Manipur did witness violence starting the month of May last year. But I think because of the combined efforts of the state administration, supported by the Indian Army, Assam Rifles and other security agencies we have been able to stabilize the situation to a large extent. Our efforts along side these agencies will continue to make sure that normalcy is established and the security situation remains stable.”

Stating that the overall security situation in the Northeast has improved over the years, COAS Manoj Pande further said, “The Northeast has witnessed positive developments in the last one year because of the proactive policies of the government, the peace talks, we had 2 major peace accords that have been signed. The violence parameters overall have come down.”

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