Tribune News Service
New Delhi | December 10
The ministry of external affairs is in a quandary over an unusual request which it has received from Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio. Rio wants New Delhi to persuade Myanmar to declare a ceasefire with the Khaplang faction of the NSCN instead of going hammers and tongs against the militant outfit. The Chief Minister is understood to have made this request to external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee last month and has also vowed to take up the matter with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
It is believed to be the first time ever when a state government has suggested to the Centre that a neighbouring country be asked to go slow against a militant outfit operating from there. The unusualness of the Nagaland Chief Minister’s request stems from yet another reason - Myanmar has been specifically requested by India to wipe out Indian insurgent outfits operating from Myanmarese soil.
The Chief Minister’s request, made primarily from motivations of possible economic gains, is at a complete variance from the country’s counter-insurgency policy. Rio’s logic is that India must pressure Myanmar to make peace with Naga people living across the border so that they can participate in the economic activities envisaged under Delhi’s look east policy. Rio’s argument is that peace in Nagaland is predicated on peace in the Naga areas of Myanmar and until the Naga-inhabited regions of Myanmar turn Nagaland CM’s request puts MEA in a fix peaceful, India’s trade with Myanmar - bulk of which goes through Nagaland - cannot develop. The NSCN (K) has a dominating presence in the Naga-inhabited areas of Myanmar’s Sagaing division.
India has made repeated requests to Myanmar to take a cue from Bhutan’s Operation All Clear in 2003 and launch military offensive against Naga rebels and other including the ULFA and the United National Liberation Front of Manipur, which share camps in Myanmar. Rio also wants India to ask Myanmar’s military junta to ‘recognize’ the Naga issue as a political problem. Sources said a decision on a request like this could not be taken at the officials’ level as it pertained to political and Centre-State issues, apart from policy matters. The ministry of home affairs is unlikely to give its nod to Rio’s request, particularly when Assam and Manipur state governments have been stressing the need for a vigorous and sustained crackdown by Myanmar on the Indian insurgents’ camps in Myanmar.
