| Spillover of the Northeast Indian insurgency in Myanmar | |||||
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| Part of theInsurgency in Northeast India and theMyanmar conflict | |||||
 Map of NorthernMyanmar andNortheast India | |||||
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Throughout the long-runningseparatistinsurgencies in Northeast India, dozens of India-basedinsurgent groups have been involved in the neighboringconflict inMyanmar, both sheltering in Myanmar from thecounterinsurgentAssam Rifles and participating in the conflict itself. Outside of several Indian-led operations, includingOperation Golden Bird in 1995,Operation Hot Pursuit in 2015, orOperation Sunrise I and II in 2019, areas in which these insurgent groups are active have scarcely experienced fighting. Amid theescalation of civil war in Myanmar from 2021, several sources claim that the majority of Indianethnic armed organisations (IEAOs) are allied, or have some level of understanding, with the rulingmilitary junta of Myanmar, who allows them to maintain bases inside mountainous areas of northern Myanmar, typically in return for the IEAOs attackinganti-junta resistance groups.[1][2]
TheInsurgency in Northeast India is the name for the collectiveinsurgencies throughout the "seven sister states" making upNortheastern India. Starting shortly after theBritish withdrawal from India in 1947, the seven states have been subject to usually violent clashes between theIndian Army with thecounterinsurgent andparamilitaryAssam Rifles against dozens ofsecessionist groups. Over 200 tribal groups and subgroups live in the Northeast, with several having long-running historic rivalries.[3]
Historically, the Northeastern states were controlled by theKingdom of Ahom. From the 13th Century until the 19th Century, the states were ruled by theAhom Dynasty (excludingManipur, which was controlled by theManipur Kingdom). This was untilseveral internal rebellions which severely weakened the kingdom and theBurmese invasions of Assam, which lead Ahom to collapse and become occupied by theKonbaung dynasty. Shortly after, the Burmese had to cede the Northeast to theBritish East India Company after theFirst Anglo-Burmese War.
In 1947, after the British withdrawal from the India, several ethnic groups in the Northeast quickly revolted, starting when theNaga declared independence, and spreading to includeMizo,Assamese,Boro,Meitei,Tripuri,Zo/Kuki, and several other smaller ethnic groups.[4]
Indian-insurgents involvement in Myanmar (then called Burma) began in the 1950s when the leader of thesuccessionistNaga National Council,Angami Zapu Phizo, encouraged theNaga people of Burma to join the separatistrevolt.[3] In response,Indian Prime MinisterJawaharlal Nehru sought to make Myanmar aneutral country so it would not arm the small Naga insurgency.[4] Starting in 1956,Pakistan'sInter-Services Intelligence (ISI),China, and possibly theYunnan-based Blackhousemafia began supplying weaponry and aid to the Naga National Council,Mizo National Front, Sengkrak ofTripura,United Liberation Front of Asom, and later thePeople's Liberation Army of Manipur through Burma andBhutan, with Naga insurgents receiving arms and training inEast Pakistan (until1971).[5] Starting in the 1960s,tribal divisions began to impact the Naga insurgency.[3] In 1962, a misunderstanding occurred inIndia-Myanmar relations which lead to Myanmar allowing Indian insurgents in its territory.[6] In 1963, one of the largest Naga rebel columns, led by Dusoi Chakesang, traveled to East Pakistan through theChin Hills.[5] In January 1967, members of the Naga National Council traveled through Myanmar'sNaga Hills to Yunnan in seeking Chinese backing for their cause,[7] to which the Chinese would accept. In the later 1960s Indian Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi began improving relations with BurmesedictatorNe Win, leading to theTatmadaw agreeing to crack down on Naga and Mizo rebels heading toChina for training.[8]
Starting in the late 1970s, several major insurgent groups -many of which are active in Myanmar- were founded. These include the:
In the mid-1980s, primarily due to its leaderS. S. Khaplang, theNational Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN) had established good relations with several Indian insurgent groups, with the NSCN allowing groups like theUnited Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA) andPeople's Liberation Army of Manipur (PLA-M) to maintain bases innorthSagaing Region.[9] In 1985, China assisted the PLA-M in establishing relations with theKachin State-basedKachin Independence Organisation and itsarmy (KIA). The PLA-M was the first Indian rebel group to be trained and armed by the KIA. In 1987, through their bases in northern Sagaing, the ULFA sent the first cadres into KIA-controlled territory for training. A second batch of cadres were trained the next year. Eventually, 2,500 ULFA soldiers were trained by the KIA and the army was supplied with weapons primarily from Myanmar.[5] The KIA and ULFA carried out several joint operations in Myanmar through this time.[10] BothNaga andMizo rebels also got training from the KIA and supplies from China, half of which they had to give to the KIA.[5]
In 1989, theUnited National Liberation Front,National Socialist Council of Nagaland - Khaplang,United Liberation Front of Asom, andKuki National Army, with aid from theChin National Front, formed theIndo-Burma Revolutionary Front.[11] The same year India'sforeign intelligence agency, theResearch and Analysis Wing (RAW), reached out to the KIA,Chin National Front, and several other Burmese insurgent groups to request that the armies would stop harbouring Indian militants in their territory. In return, the RAW would supply the groups with weapons through hideouts and caches in the seven sister states. It was reported that the KIA only received 2 consignments of weapons, far less than they expected.[10] By 1992, the Burmese military discovered the supply routes between the KIA and India and quickly dismantled them. In winter of the same year, the KIA lost vast amounts of territories due to a Tatmadaw offensive, and the relations between the KIA and RAW began to break down. Despite this, the army kept its promise of not allowing Indian militants in its territory.[4] The year after, the Tatmadaw and India began cooperating to attack Indian militants in Myanmar, with the Tatmadaw being supplied with Indian weapons.[12]
Operation Golden Bird was a 2 month longIndia-Myanmar joint military operation from March to May 1995.[13][14] The goal of the operation was to cut off a weapon smuggling trail used by severalNortheastern rebel groups to smuggle weapons into India'sManipur State.Cadres numbering around 170 of theUnited Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), thePeople's Liberation Army of Manipur (PLA-M), and theAll Tripura Tiger Force (ATTF) planned to pick up an arms shipment nearCox Bazar,Bangladesh, and transport it to Manipur. After the cadres accidentally crossed theIndia-Myanmar border inChin State, they came into conflict with theChin National Front (CNF), aChin nationalist organisation.[13] After reportedly clashing with the CNF, the CNF and theNational United Party of Arakan (NUPA) began supplying theIndian Army with information about the movements of the cadres.[15] After this, theAssam Rifles and the Myanmar military clashed with the cadres several times while they moved deeper into Burmese territory. Several times, discoordination led to both Myanmar Army and Indian Army troops requesting for the other to withdraw. By the end of April, the rebel column was severely weakened and demoralised.[citation needed]
On 4 May, India announced that theJawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding was being given toNobel Peace Prize winner and pro-democracy politicianAung San Suu Kyi. In response, themilitary junta of Myanmar withdrew from the front and released "scores" of detained militants,[16] allowing the besieged rebel column to escape and eventually make it to Manipur. Operation Golden Bird ended 21 May 1995.[13][15]
In mid-1995, theNSCN-K andULFA formed theUnited Liberation Front of Seven Sisters, which broke up shortly after.[11]
After 1997, Indian intelligence discontinued all support to Burmese rebels -including the Kachin Independence Organisation, Chin National Front, andNational United Party of Arakan- and began supplying the Burmese military with heavy weaponry. In return, the Burmese Army started attacking Naga rebel bases, but the army avoided Assamese and Manipuri rebels. In November 2001, in a military operation conducted by the Burmese military, 192 Manipuri rebels were captured, includingUNLF chairman Rajkumar Meghen, and around 1,600 weapons were seized aroundTamu.[5] The Burmese military refused to hand over the rebels to India. B.B. Nandy, a Myanmar rights activist based in India, claimed that"the Tatmadaw don't attack the powerful Manipuri or Assamese guerrillas who pay off the generals." Despite this, India resumed arms shipments to Myanmar the next year despite protests from theEuropean Union. In September 2006, Indian officials greeted a Burmese delegation by submitting to them a list of 15 Indian insurgent bases in Myanmar. Afterwards, during the followingmonsoon season, the Tatmadaw attacked several Naga and Assamese bases. After the violent suppression of the 2007Saffron Revolution by the Tatmadaw, India suspended all arms sales to Myanmar.[4]
In July 2011, several Myanmar-based insurgent groups -those being theKangleipak Communist Party,Kanglei Yawol Kanna Lup,People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak,People's Liberation Army of Manipur,United National Liberation Front, andUnited Peoples Party of Kangleipak- formed aunited front called the Coordination Committee (CorCom) after a meeting inRuili,China.[17] Leaders from theNSCN-K andULFA also attended the meeting.[11] Chinese officials supported the formation of the front, promisedto provide weapons and logistics to the front in return for them destabilisingArunachal Pradesh, whichChina claims as its own territory.[18]
Sometime in 2013, theZomi Revolutionary Army (ZRA), the military wing of theZomi Re-Unification Organisation, established a presence inChin State.[19]
On 27 March 2015, theNSCN-K abrogated the ceasefire with the Indian government it had held since 2001, possibly under the influence of Chinese officials. A month later, on 17 April, the NSCN-K,ULFA,NDFB-S, andKLO formed aunited front under the name of theUnited National Liberation Front of Western South East Asia (UNLFWSEA or UNLFW) after a series of meetings in Taga,Myanmar, which would become the group's main base of operations. Members of the Coordination Committee participated in the meetings, but did not join the front due to disagreements.[11][18] On 3 May, the front ambushed the 23Assam Rifles battalion and 164 Territorial Army Battalion of theIndian Army inMon District ofNagaland, killing 8.[20]
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TheKuki National Army and thePeople's Defense Force conducted a joint raid on aUnited National Liberation Front encampment inTamu Township on 23 November 2023.[21]
Meitei rebel groups such as thePeople's Liberation Army of Manipur were involved in aiding the Myanmar military junta in cracking down on protests and fighting the PDF.[22]
TheZomi Revolutionary Army frequently clashes with theChinland Defense Force, with alleged aid by the military junta. While the ZRA denied allegations of direct aid from the Tatmadaw, they confirmed that they are not against them as "They do not attack us and neither do we."[23] Eventually, the ZRA signed a peace treaty with theChin National Army, but still officially remain neutral with the military junta.[24]
TheNational Socialist Council of Nagaland accused the Indian government of supplying bomb-making materials to theKuki National Army-Burma and supporting the PDF.[25]
On 13 July, media reports claimed that India launched drone and airstrikes against insurgent camps in Myanmar, targeting ULFA positions near the Indo-Myanmar border inArunachal Pradesh.[26][27] The ULFA alleged that these strikes resulted in the death of Lieutenant GeneralNayam Asom.[28] During his funeral, a subsequent missile attack reportedly killed Brigadier Ganesh Asom, Colonel Pradip Asom, and others. The ULFA accused the Indian Air Force of targeting camps belonging to theNSCN-K and PLA in the region.[29] However, Indian Army officials, including Colonel Mahendra Rawat, denied any knowledge of the strikes.[30][31]
On 14 July, ULFA's commander-in-chiefParesh Baruah contradicted initial reports, stating that Colonel Pradip Asom, previously thought dead, had survived the attack.[32] Assam Chief MinisterHimanta Biswa Sarma clarified that the state police had no involvement in the drone strikes.[33]