Myanmar was neither with India nor against it

New Delhi, June 15: National Security Advisor Ajit Doval will press for the extradition of S S Khaplang the leader of the NSCN-K, a militant outfit which is said to be behind the Manipur attack in which 18 soldiers of the Indian army were killed.

The extradition of S S Khaplang is of extreme importance and India can no longer trust this person ever since he broke a 14-year-old cease fire violation with New Delhi. Khaplang although aged 75 still has a good amount of control within Myanmar.

Being a resident of that nation, he enjoys certain privileges which in fact has helped other groups from the North East set up camps at the Sagaing division in Myanmar.

Protection money and training grounds on rent:

Khaplang, it is clear is not working on his own. Indian Intelligence Bureau officials tell OneIndia that he is a puppet who is being played by Paresh Baruah the Supreme Commander of the ULFA (I)

Khaplang on the other hand enjoys a very good relationship with Myanmar.

Khaplang according to reports coming in from Myanmar suggest that he is unwell and hence was moved from the Sagaing division to a hospital in Yangon. The Indian agencies feel that this move was made in a bid to protect him against the assault by the Indian army which was carried out recently.

Khaplang has made good use of his clout in Myanmar and this has led to several North East militant groups setting up a strong base along the Indo-Myanmar border. Khaplang has been collecting protection money from various groups such as the ULFA (I) and the NDFB-S.

These groups are allowed to use the land in Myanmar which is under the control of Khaplang and very often he has also loaned them weapons to stage strikes in the North Eastern states. These groups in turn pay a hefty sum of money to the Khaplang run NSCN-K.

You are either with us or against us:

Myanmar finds itself in a very confused state of mind while dealing with Khaplang. While there is a certain amount of consensus within Myanmar to deal with these terrorists, there is also another strong faction in the army which opposes Indian action.

India had no choice but to issue an ultimatum to Myanmar before it launched strikes along the border areas. Myanmar was expected to launch an offensive on its soil and drive the terrorists to the Indian side of the border.

However, Myanmar had clearly not done a convincing job and the Indian army managed to gun down around 20 militants.

Myanmar's stand on the issue was confusing. Myanmar did not agree for such an operation nor did they object to it. The NSA who will hold a series of meetings with officials in Myanmar will raise this issue and work towards better cooperation.

OneIndia News