NEW DELHI, Jun 1 – In a fresh initiative to lure away youths from joining militancy, the new National Youth Policy 2012 proposes to frame an action plan to tackle the menace particularly in conflict-affected areas of North-East.
The exposure draft released on Thursday by Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, Ajay Maken proposes to revise the target age group of youths from the existing 13-35 years to 16-30 years. In a first, Youth Development Index (YDI) is proposed to be incorporated as part of the policy to serve as the baseline and ready reckoner for evaluation.
The new Youth Policy divides the target groups into six categories including the Youth at Risk and Violent Conflicts. The Ministry has proposed to hold consultations with various stakeholders. As part of the regional consultations, the discussion on the youth policy would be held at NEHU University in Shillong in the third week of July.
The draft policy states that due to a number of factors, chiefly economic, young people are drawn to armed conflicts and align with organisations and groups that spearhead the disruptive activities. Young people with little means of subsistence may be easily lured by the extremists by the promise of proper meals, shelter and clothing by these outfits.
Several categories of young people appear to be particularly at risk, unemployed university graduates, young people who have migrated from rural to urban areas, tribal youths, young people who have been victims of discrimination or injustice or youth, who have been misguided by concerted propaganda by perpetrators of separatism and militancy.
Regardless whether they participate in violent conflicts or are victims, young people are undoubtedly the worst sufferers. Their future gets severely compromised, the draft policy said. Even when they desire to return to normal life after realising that they had wrongly got themselves inducted into conflict, the society does not offer them an opportunity.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
India asks Myanmar to handover arrested NE insurgents
India has requested Myanmar not to allow its territory to be used for anti-India activities and to hand over arrested northeast insurgent leaders and its response was "encouraging".
Home minister P Chidambaram said the dialogue between India and Myanmar during the just concluded visit
of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to that country was "very fruitful".
"Response are very encouraging. But what follow up action will be taken by government of Myanmar, we have to wait and see," he said at a press conference here today.
Chidambaram said India's concerns regarding Myanmar are two-fold -- firstly New Delhi does not want any part of Myanmar territory to be used as camps by Northeast insurgent groups.
"Secondly if the government of Myanmar is able to apprehend any of the insurgent leaders, we would like them to be handed over to India. We have made these requests, response are encouraging. But we will have to wait and see what action is taken on the ground," he said.
Asked about the reported tie up between the leader of anti-talk faction of ULFA Paresh Baruah and the Naxals, the Home minister said Baruah himself was not in India but his faction was indeed active.
"I have already said that there are contacts between his faction and CPI(Maoist)," he said.
On the National Telecom Policy, Chidambaram said it has taken care of all security concerns of the Home Ministry.
Home minister P Chidambaram said the dialogue between India and Myanmar during the just concluded visit
of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to that country was "very fruitful".
"Response are very encouraging. But what follow up action will be taken by government of Myanmar, we have to wait and see," he said at a press conference here today.
Chidambaram said India's concerns regarding Myanmar are two-fold -- firstly New Delhi does not want any part of Myanmar territory to be used as camps by Northeast insurgent groups.
"Secondly if the government of Myanmar is able to apprehend any of the insurgent leaders, we would like them to be handed over to India. We have made these requests, response are encouraging. But we will have to wait and see what action is taken on the ground," he said.
Asked about the reported tie up between the leader of anti-talk faction of ULFA Paresh Baruah and the Naxals, the Home minister said Baruah himself was not in India but his faction was indeed active.
"I have already said that there are contacts between his faction and CPI(Maoist)," he said.
On the National Telecom Policy, Chidambaram said it has taken care of all security concerns of the Home Ministry.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Myanmar ultimatum to NE militant groups to pack up by June 10
To shore up its ties with India, Myanmar government has ordered Manipur-based militant outfits to shut their camps and training facilities and leave its soil by June 10.
Quoting intelligence inputs, official sources said the Myanmar Army's order was issued on May 24 -- three days before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh embarked on his visit to the neighbouring country -- and the move is considered as a goodwill gesture from Nay Pyi Taw.
There are 12 to 15 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, they said.
The militants often come to Manipur to carry out subversive activities and leave the state to escape action by security agencies. The sources said if the Manipur militant groups are forced to close down their camps by the Myanmar Army, it would have significant impact on the security situation in the northeastern state.
Besides, they said, other northeastern militant groups having bases in Myanmar may also have to face the heat of the neighbouring country with improved bilateral relations between the two countries.
Prime Minister Singh will return to New Delhi today after a three-day visit to Myanmar.
Quoting intelligence inputs, official sources said the Myanmar Army's order was issued on May 24 -- three days before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh embarked on his visit to the neighbouring country -- and the move is considered as a goodwill gesture from Nay Pyi Taw.
There are 12 to 15 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, they said.
The militants often come to Manipur to carry out subversive activities and leave the state to escape action by security agencies. The sources said if the Manipur militant groups are forced to close down their camps by the Myanmar Army, it would have significant impact on the security situation in the northeastern state.
Besides, they said, other northeastern militant groups having bases in Myanmar may also have to face the heat of the neighbouring country with improved bilateral relations between the two countries.
Prime Minister Singh will return to New Delhi today after a three-day visit to Myanmar.
Sunday, May 27, 2012
The spread of Red
Oinam Sunil
Way back in 1978, a Manipuri student of IIT-Bombay, Bedamani Singh, left his studies mid-way to participate in what he called the "Maoist revolution" in eastern India. He met students from the North-east in Delhi, Guwahati and Imphal to spread the ideology. The same year, recall old-timers, about 10 Delhi University students from Manipur dropped out to join the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
This was the beginning of the spread of Maoist ideology in the North-east. In 1976, N Bisheswar Singh along with other Manipuri youths crossed over to China to obtain ideological training from the Chinese communists. They returned to form the PLA, a militant group that was crushed by the army in the 1980s but managed to regroup by the early 1990s.
Maoism now appears to have returned to the northeast. On the morning of May 9, Assam policemen killed four
senior armed Maoist cadres, including a local commander Siddhartha Borgohain, in an encounter at Sadiya in Tinsukia district. The other three killed were identified as Rajib Gogoi, Arup Chetia and Kamala Burhagohain. Three AK-47s, two grenades and a large quantity of ammunition were recovered from them.
Union home minister P Chidambaram, who visited Arunachal Pradesh recently, had expressed concern about Maoist presence in the area. He said the state governments in the region had been instructed to deal with the Reds with a firm hand. "There will be no compromise with Maoists trying to destabilise peace in the region and police have been instructed to take stern action," Chidambaram said. The home minister, however, added that there was small presence of Maoists here, and commended the Assam and Arunachal Pradesh governments for dealing with them firmly.
Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi had asked PM Manmohan Singh during his visit to the state last month for additional central paramilitary forces to deal with the growing Maoist menace. Assam police have so far arrested 20 cadres, but several of them, including top leader Aditya Bora, have jumped bail.
Intelligence agencies have also got inputs about CPI(Maoist)'s links with Ulfa, UNLF, NSCN(IM) and the PLA. UNLF chairman Rajkumar Meghen was even charged by the National Investigation Agency of planning a broad tie-up between Manipuri rebel outfits and the Maoists. The Maoist-Ulfa link, however, has more to do with arms dealing than ideology.
In Manipur too, some rebel outfits are inclined towards the Red ideology. A faction of the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) has rechristened itself as the Maoist Communist Party of Manipur. But the bigger headache for the security agencies is the spread of Maoists in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
In Assam, at least 300 youths, who have been found to be missing from their homes for the last two years, are suspected to have joined the Maoists. The cops carried out a survey over the last two months to track Maoist recruits in all districts. There are 100 listed Maoists cadres in the state.
"These youngster left home on the pretext of taking up jobs elsewhere. But they have yet to communicate with their families. They are untraceable and we believe they might have gone underground as Maoist recruits," says a security source.
Unlike other states, the initial recruits in Assam have mostly been from communities other than Adivasis.
"The pattern in other states is that the recruits are mainly from the marginalised groups, but that has not been reflected yet in Assam. There is only a sprinkling of Adivasi youths among the listed cadres," the source says. "The Adivasis here live under relatively better conditions than those in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand or Odisha. The pattern seen so far is that wherever governance has failed and Ulfa is on the wane, the Maoists have moved in. They also keep a watch on mass protests to pick up potential cadres."
Security forces are now on the lookout for top Maoist leader Moina Dohotiya even as the CPI(Maoist) has entrusted its key members with the responsibility of using the North-east as a staging post primarily for two things - creating a base and strengthening its link with Manipur's PLA for arms supply.
The Centre is worried over the development as the region borders with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and China. Maoists are bringing in arms through Myanmar with the help of the PLA. Two top PLA leaders, who were arrested in New Delhi last year, had revealed that the Manipuri outfit was imparting arms training to the Maoist cadres and supplying arms.
Way back in 1978, a Manipuri student of IIT-Bombay, Bedamani Singh, left his studies mid-way to participate in what he called the "Maoist revolution" in eastern India. He met students from the North-east in Delhi, Guwahati and Imphal to spread the ideology. The same year, recall old-timers, about 10 Delhi University students from Manipur dropped out to join the People's Liberation Army (PLA).
This was the beginning of the spread of Maoist ideology in the North-east. In 1976, N Bisheswar Singh along with other Manipuri youths crossed over to China to obtain ideological training from the Chinese communists. They returned to form the PLA, a militant group that was crushed by the army in the 1980s but managed to regroup by the early 1990s.
Maoism now appears to have returned to the northeast. On the morning of May 9, Assam policemen killed four
senior armed Maoist cadres, including a local commander Siddhartha Borgohain, in an encounter at Sadiya in Tinsukia district. The other three killed were identified as Rajib Gogoi, Arup Chetia and Kamala Burhagohain. Three AK-47s, two grenades and a large quantity of ammunition were recovered from them.
Union home minister P Chidambaram, who visited Arunachal Pradesh recently, had expressed concern about Maoist presence in the area. He said the state governments in the region had been instructed to deal with the Reds with a firm hand. "There will be no compromise with Maoists trying to destabilise peace in the region and police have been instructed to take stern action," Chidambaram said. The home minister, however, added that there was small presence of Maoists here, and commended the Assam and Arunachal Pradesh governments for dealing with them firmly.
Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi had asked PM Manmohan Singh during his visit to the state last month for additional central paramilitary forces to deal with the growing Maoist menace. Assam police have so far arrested 20 cadres, but several of them, including top leader Aditya Bora, have jumped bail.
Intelligence agencies have also got inputs about CPI(Maoist)'s links with Ulfa, UNLF, NSCN(IM) and the PLA. UNLF chairman Rajkumar Meghen was even charged by the National Investigation Agency of planning a broad tie-up between Manipuri rebel outfits and the Maoists. The Maoist-Ulfa link, however, has more to do with arms dealing than ideology.
In Manipur too, some rebel outfits are inclined towards the Red ideology. A faction of the Kangleipak Communist Party (KCP) has rechristened itself as the Maoist Communist Party of Manipur. But the bigger headache for the security agencies is the spread of Maoists in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.
In Assam, at least 300 youths, who have been found to be missing from their homes for the last two years, are suspected to have joined the Maoists. The cops carried out a survey over the last two months to track Maoist recruits in all districts. There are 100 listed Maoists cadres in the state.
"These youngster left home on the pretext of taking up jobs elsewhere. But they have yet to communicate with their families. They are untraceable and we believe they might have gone underground as Maoist recruits," says a security source.
Unlike other states, the initial recruits in Assam have mostly been from communities other than Adivasis.
"The pattern in other states is that the recruits are mainly from the marginalised groups, but that has not been reflected yet in Assam. There is only a sprinkling of Adivasi youths among the listed cadres," the source says. "The Adivasis here live under relatively better conditions than those in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand or Odisha. The pattern seen so far is that wherever governance has failed and Ulfa is on the wane, the Maoists have moved in. They also keep a watch on mass protests to pick up potential cadres."
Security forces are now on the lookout for top Maoist leader Moina Dohotiya even as the CPI(Maoist) has entrusted its key members with the responsibility of using the North-east as a staging post primarily for two things - creating a base and strengthening its link with Manipur's PLA for arms supply.
The Centre is worried over the development as the region borders with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and China. Maoists are bringing in arms through Myanmar with the help of the PLA. Two top PLA leaders, who were arrested in New Delhi last year, had revealed that the Manipuri outfit was imparting arms training to the Maoist cadres and supplying arms.
NIA vindicates exposé on PLA-Maoist nexus
The NIA chargesheet says the banned Manipur outfit trained and armed Maoist cadres in Jharkhand. TEHELKA broke this story in December 2011
THE NATIONAL investigation Agency’s (NIA’s) chargesheet against the top leadership of the banned outfit in Manipur, the Peoples’ revolutionary Army (PLA), filed on 21 May in a special NIA fast-track court, has endorsed the TEHELKA exposé of the PLA–Maoists nexus in December 2011.
In its article (Kishenji’s N-E Nexus Exposed, by Ratnadip Choudhury; 17 December 2011), TEHELKA had exposed how secret exchanges between the Maoists and a Manipuri rebel outfit show that the slain naxal leader, Kishenji, was seeking an access to China. According to NIA sources, the chargesheet clearly establishes intimate links between the PLA and CPI(Maoists); how trainers from the PLA travelled all the way to Maoist bases in Jharkhand two years ago and trained Maoist cadres in combat. The chargesheet also talks about how the PLA helped the Maoists with arms and latest communication equipment. These did not come for free though; the Maoists had to pay a hefty amount that exchanged hands in Kolkata.
In October 2011, the Delhi Police arrested N Dilip Singh alias N Wangba, the external affairs chief of the PLA, in a raid at a hotel in Paharganj, near the New Delhi railway station. Along with Dilip, 51, his deputy, Arun Kumar Singh Salam, 36, was also arrested. Interrogation by the NIA revealed startling information about how the nexus between the CPI(Maoist) and the PLA had blossomed ever since the two outfits signed a joint declaration on 22 October 2008 against the Indian government.
TEHELKA had accessed secret letters between the Maoists and the PLA leadership, all routed through Dilip, which reveal how the nexus was formed and how the scheme was the brainchild of slain Maoist leader Kishenji himself. Although the authenticity of the letters could not be independently proved then, the NIA chargesheet has vindicated TEHELKA’s exposé.
The story revealed how the PLA was given a contract to procure Chinese-made rocket-propelled grenades, automatic rifles and high-end wireless sets. It also talked of how Maoist leader Kishenji was trying to develop secret links with other rebel groups in the Northeast, including the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the national socialist Council of Nagaland (Issac-Muivah) or NSCN (IM). The latter’s chief arms procurer Anthony Shimray, currently in NIA custody, confessed that a huge cache of arms for the Maoists was purchased from a Chinese company. The consignment included automatic rifles, rocket launchers and grenades. TEHELKA was informed by an insider from the anti-talk faction of ULFA that Kishenji was in touch with ULFA chief Paresh Barua, who led him to Shimray.
The NIA sprung into action after the arrest of top PLA leaders N Dilip Singh, Senjam Dhiren Singh alias Raghu and KH Arnold Singh. During its investigation, the agency also found how the PLA and CPI(Maoist) hobnobbed between 2006 and 2008.
THE NATIONAL investigation Agency’s (NIA’s) chargesheet against the top leadership of the banned outfit in Manipur, the Peoples’ revolutionary Army (PLA), filed on 21 May in a special NIA fast-track court, has endorsed the TEHELKA exposé of the PLA–Maoists nexus in December 2011.
In its article (Kishenji’s N-E Nexus Exposed, by Ratnadip Choudhury; 17 December 2011), TEHELKA had exposed how secret exchanges between the Maoists and a Manipuri rebel outfit show that the slain naxal leader, Kishenji, was seeking an access to China. According to NIA sources, the chargesheet clearly establishes intimate links between the PLA and CPI(Maoists); how trainers from the PLA travelled all the way to Maoist bases in Jharkhand two years ago and trained Maoist cadres in combat. The chargesheet also talks about how the PLA helped the Maoists with arms and latest communication equipment. These did not come for free though; the Maoists had to pay a hefty amount that exchanged hands in Kolkata.
In October 2011, the Delhi Police arrested N Dilip Singh alias N Wangba, the external affairs chief of the PLA, in a raid at a hotel in Paharganj, near the New Delhi railway station. Along with Dilip, 51, his deputy, Arun Kumar Singh Salam, 36, was also arrested. Interrogation by the NIA revealed startling information about how the nexus between the CPI(Maoist) and the PLA had blossomed ever since the two outfits signed a joint declaration on 22 October 2008 against the Indian government.
TEHELKA had accessed secret letters between the Maoists and the PLA leadership, all routed through Dilip, which reveal how the nexus was formed and how the scheme was the brainchild of slain Maoist leader Kishenji himself. Although the authenticity of the letters could not be independently proved then, the NIA chargesheet has vindicated TEHELKA’s exposé.
The story revealed how the PLA was given a contract to procure Chinese-made rocket-propelled grenades, automatic rifles and high-end wireless sets. It also talked of how Maoist leader Kishenji was trying to develop secret links with other rebel groups in the Northeast, including the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) and the national socialist Council of Nagaland (Issac-Muivah) or NSCN (IM). The latter’s chief arms procurer Anthony Shimray, currently in NIA custody, confessed that a huge cache of arms for the Maoists was purchased from a Chinese company. The consignment included automatic rifles, rocket launchers and grenades. TEHELKA was informed by an insider from the anti-talk faction of ULFA that Kishenji was in touch with ULFA chief Paresh Barua, who led him to Shimray.
The NIA sprung into action after the arrest of top PLA leaders N Dilip Singh, Senjam Dhiren Singh alias Raghu and KH Arnold Singh. During its investigation, the agency also found how the PLA and CPI(Maoist) hobnobbed between 2006 and 2008.
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Jharkhand Maoists being trained in People Liberation Army's Myanmar camps
GUWAHATI: Maoists from Jharkhand are now being trained in the camps of Manipur's People Liberation Army (PLA) located at Mindat in the southern Chin state of Myanmar, according to a recent government report on Maoist activities in the northeastern region, which is turning out to be their new base.
"The two groups signed an agreement 'for better understanding' in September, 2008 and the first batch of three Maoist cadres from Jharkhand trained at the PLA's 251 battalion camp at Mindat. Maoists now plan to send their cadres to Manipur to be trained by the PLA," a security source said.
The Maoists of Assam were first trained in Lohit district of neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh and the first training camp was started as recently as April last year. "At the camp in Lohit, training in arms was imparted by Maoists leaders from Assam. The camp was closed down after two Adivasi trainees fled the place," the source said.
These reports of the PLA training Maoists in Myanmar, based on confession statements of arrested PLA leaders here, have come at a time when the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday filed a chargesheet at the special court here against the PLA for imparting training to the cadres of CPI (Maoist) and supplying arms and ammunition to the outfit.
"The investigation established that in and around June 2006, the PLA leadership met the top leaders of CPI (Maoist), followed by several other meetings between the two terrorist organisations between 2006 and 2008," the NIA chargesheet says.
It adds that in 2008, senior leaders of CPI (Maoist) met PLA members in a foreign country and "signed a joint declaration for the unified action of waging war against India".
"In this meeting, CPI (Maoist) requested the PLA to provide them sophisticated weapons and the PLA in turn sought help for procurement of ammonium nitrate (explosive) from the former," the NIA stated.
The NIA chargesheet states that a team of PLA cadres comprising four senior functionaries had visited the Dandakaranya forest in Chhattisgarh sometime in the middle of 2009.
"Investigation has established that two training programmes, comprising signal training and military training, were carried out for CPI (Maoist) cadres by the PLA in Saranda Forest of Jharkhand. The first programme was carried out from 11 September, 2010 to 20 November, 2010 and the second started on 7 October, 2010 and ended on 10 November, 2010," the chargesheet adds.
"The two groups signed an agreement 'for better understanding' in September, 2008 and the first batch of three Maoist cadres from Jharkhand trained at the PLA's 251 battalion camp at Mindat. Maoists now plan to send their cadres to Manipur to be trained by the PLA," a security source said.
The Maoists of Assam were first trained in Lohit district of neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh and the first training camp was started as recently as April last year. "At the camp in Lohit, training in arms was imparted by Maoists leaders from Assam. The camp was closed down after two Adivasi trainees fled the place," the source said.
These reports of the PLA training Maoists in Myanmar, based on confession statements of arrested PLA leaders here, have come at a time when the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday filed a chargesheet at the special court here against the PLA for imparting training to the cadres of CPI (Maoist) and supplying arms and ammunition to the outfit.
"The investigation established that in and around June 2006, the PLA leadership met the top leaders of CPI (Maoist), followed by several other meetings between the two terrorist organisations between 2006 and 2008," the NIA chargesheet says.
It adds that in 2008, senior leaders of CPI (Maoist) met PLA members in a foreign country and "signed a joint declaration for the unified action of waging war against India".
"In this meeting, CPI (Maoist) requested the PLA to provide them sophisticated weapons and the PLA in turn sought help for procurement of ammonium nitrate (explosive) from the former," the NIA stated.
The NIA chargesheet states that a team of PLA cadres comprising four senior functionaries had visited the Dandakaranya forest in Chhattisgarh sometime in the middle of 2009.
"Investigation has established that two training programmes, comprising signal training and military training, were carried out for CPI (Maoist) cadres by the PLA in Saranda Forest of Jharkhand. The first programme was carried out from 11 September, 2010 to 20 November, 2010 and the second started on 7 October, 2010 and ended on 10 November, 2010," the chargesheet adds.
Dragon tries to spread influence in India's backyard
People's Liberation Army
Beijing is now trying to enter India's strategic backyard with a vengeance which has rung alarm bells in South Block and is ramping up its pearl of strings strategy to encircle India, according to a report accessed by Headlines Today, compiled by the intelligence agencies sent to the Foreign Office.
China is ramping up its strategy to increase influence in India's neighbour hood. Late last month, former Chinese Envoy to India Zhou Gang was sent as the special envoy of the Chinese government to Thimphu and he met the 4th King of Bhutan and senior government officials
The Chinese Envoy told his interlocutors that if Thimphu wants to settle the boundary dispute with China it should allow Beijing to open a diplomatic mission in Bhutan.
For long India has resisted attempts to influence Bhutan by countries like China which wants to dominate the country's affairs that is a strategic buffer between India and China.
China has a 470-km unfenced border with China, and there have been reports of Chinese trying to ramp up their strategic infrastructure and intrusions of Chinese soldiers in their country.
Currently Bhutan only has three diplomatic missions in Thimphu, while India has the biggest mission, Bangladesh and Kuwait also have an embassy in Thimphu besides a diplomatic mission of the UN.
"Besides the two permanent missions at the UN in New York and Geneva, Bhutan has embassies in New Delhi, Dhaka, Bangkok, Kuwait and Brussels. These missions cover the 37 countries with which Bhutan has diplomatic relations while the embassies of these countries in Delhi and Dhaka cover Bhutan. India, Bangladesh and Kuwait have resident missions in Thimphu. Opening of missions by countries that have diplomatic relations with Bhutan are decided through mutual consultation," said V. Namgyel, Bhutan's ambassador to India.
For India any package deal that Bhutan has with China will have strategic ramifications and a Chinese diplomatic mission in Thimphu may also undermine Indian influence. Already China's designs on making inroads in Bhutan have worried policy makers in New Delhi.
In November 2007, Chinese forces dismantled several unmanned posts near the Chumbi valley. They distorted the Sino-Bhutanese border near Sikkim, with Chinese forces only a few kilometres away from the Siliguri corridor.
Chumbi Valley, a vital tri-junction between Bhutan, India and China border, is significant as it is 500 km from Siliguri corridor-the chicken neck which connects India to North East India and Nepal to Bhutan.
Meanwhile, Chumbi Valley is of geostrategic importance to China because of its shared borders with Tibet and Sikkim. The North-Western areas of Bhutan which China wants in exchange for the Central areas lie next to the Chumbi Valley tri-junction.
So the potential of any strategic deal on India, would have grave strategic consequences, although New Delhi is now working overtime to ensure it nixes any deal that Beijing has with Bhutan.
The intelligence assessment accessed by Headlines Today also notes that earlier in March, Beijing gave its Jianghu II frigates which were rechristened UMS Mahar Bandoola and UMS Mahar Thiha Thura. "China has supplied these frigates in order to regain influence over Myanmar and Bay of Bengal region," says the assessment coming ahead of a visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Myanmar later this week.
China is ramping up its strategy to increase influence in India's neighbour hood. Late last month, former Chinese Envoy to India Zhou Gang was sent as the special envoy of the Chinese government to Thimphu and he met the 4th King of Bhutan and senior government officials
The Chinese Envoy told his interlocutors that if Thimphu wants to settle the boundary dispute with China it should allow Beijing to open a diplomatic mission in Bhutan.
For long India has resisted attempts to influence Bhutan by countries like China which wants to dominate the country's affairs that is a strategic buffer between India and China.
China has a 470-km unfenced border with China, and there have been reports of Chinese trying to ramp up their strategic infrastructure and intrusions of Chinese soldiers in their country.
Currently Bhutan only has three diplomatic missions in Thimphu, while India has the biggest mission, Bangladesh and Kuwait also have an embassy in Thimphu besides a diplomatic mission of the UN.
"Besides the two permanent missions at the UN in New York and Geneva, Bhutan has embassies in New Delhi, Dhaka, Bangkok, Kuwait and Brussels. These missions cover the 37 countries with which Bhutan has diplomatic relations while the embassies of these countries in Delhi and Dhaka cover Bhutan. India, Bangladesh and Kuwait have resident missions in Thimphu. Opening of missions by countries that have diplomatic relations with Bhutan are decided through mutual consultation," said V. Namgyel, Bhutan's ambassador to India.
For India any package deal that Bhutan has with China will have strategic ramifications and a Chinese diplomatic mission in Thimphu may also undermine Indian influence. Already China's designs on making inroads in Bhutan have worried policy makers in New Delhi.
In November 2007, Chinese forces dismantled several unmanned posts near the Chumbi valley. They distorted the Sino-Bhutanese border near Sikkim, with Chinese forces only a few kilometres away from the Siliguri corridor.
Chumbi Valley, a vital tri-junction between Bhutan, India and China border, is significant as it is 500 km from Siliguri corridor-the chicken neck which connects India to North East India and Nepal to Bhutan.
Meanwhile, Chumbi Valley is of geostrategic importance to China because of its shared borders with Tibet and Sikkim. The North-Western areas of Bhutan which China wants in exchange for the Central areas lie next to the Chumbi Valley tri-junction.
So the potential of any strategic deal on India, would have grave strategic consequences, although New Delhi is now working overtime to ensure it nixes any deal that Beijing has with Bhutan.
The intelligence assessment accessed by Headlines Today also notes that earlier in March, Beijing gave its Jianghu II frigates which were rechristened UMS Mahar Bandoola and UMS Mahar Thiha Thura. "China has supplied these frigates in order to regain influence over Myanmar and Bay of Bengal region," says the assessment coming ahead of a visit by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Myanmar later this week.
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