China in touch with north east ultras

New Delhi : The government on Tuesday, for the first time perhaps, admitted that China and Myanmar are maintaining liaison with top leaders of North-east rebel groups.

Though the government let open secret out in its tacit admission in reply to a question by Lok Sabha MPs Murli Manohar Joshi and Thangso Baite, it failed to mention that it were the Chinese Army’s intelligence agency which is maintaining regular contact with north-eastern rebel groups and even helping them get lethal armaments.

In fact, the top leadership of insurgent outfits like United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa), National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM), People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and United National Liberation Front (UNLF) of Manipur are in regular touch with Chinese intelligence officers and often discusses their strategy with them.

The government, however, said it has raised its concerns with China from time to time on this issue through diplomatic channels.

Sources in security agencies said they have definite inputs that the top leadership of China has directed senior intelligence officers of People’s Liberation Army to maintain regular contact with top leaders of the rebel outfits and even supply armaments to them.

“The NSCN-IM maintains close links with the Chinese intelligence agencies, the PLA of Manipur maintains a permanent presence in Ruili in Yunnan province with the support of Chinese intelligence agencies,” sources said.

Shocking details of China using northeastern rebel groups, especially NSCN-IM to destablise the region were revealed last year during the interrogation of its top leader Anthony Shimray.

The interrogation of top rebel leader Shimray had revealed that China was not helping NSCN-IM stealthily buy lethal arms from it but had also asked the rebel leader to smuggle maps of India’s top secret army installations in the Northeast.

Shimray and his group’s lead arms procurer had also traded of deployment positions of Agni-II missiles, ultra-modern fighter jets Sukhoi and radars with the Chinese, the sources added.

The security agencies had also found that about $ 7 lakh (about Rs31 crore) payment was made by the NSCN-IM to a Chinese arms factory for procuring arms.