"China's Strategic Encirclement...": Ex MoS External Affairs Writes To PM On Northeast Security

Former Minister of State for External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the need for a draft policy framework on internal security in the northeast region, considering the situation in Myanmar and Bangladesh and China's "deliberate geopolitical strategy to expand its influence and reduce India's strategic depth in the region."

In the letter, the former Union minister said the northeast region is seeing a renewed wave of security challenges triggered by instability in India's neighbourhood, particularly Myanmar and Bangladesh.

"After the Pahalgam terrorist attack and India's response to it, China is trying to increase its strategic partnership with Bangladesh and Myanmar. We need to analyse how these external dynamics are impacting our internal security," Mr Singh said.

He highlighted three concerns linked to the northeast region - ethnic armed groups along India-Myanmar border, radical Islamist resurgence in Bangladesh, and China's strategic encirclement as a geopolitical strategy.

Myanmar

Mr Singh said the Myanmar military coup in 2021 encouraged ethnic armed groups such as the Arakan Army and Kachin Independence Army to intensify their struggle for independence, affecting India's border states like Mizoram, Manipur, and Nagaland.

"Over 68,600 Myanmar nationals, mostly Chin-Kuki-Zomi people from Sagaing region and Chin State, have fled into Manipur and Mizoram, straining local resources and complicating inter-ethnic relations and also culminating a war-like situation in Manipur," the former Minister of State for External Affairs said in the letter.

"Taking advantage of Myanmar's fragility, some Indian insurgents' groups operating from Myanmar are also trying to destabilise northeast India. Myanmar's weak governance and its limited military reach along the India-Myanmar border increases cross border rebel activities, arms running, drug dealings, and human trafficking, resulting in further jeopardization of the region," Mr Singh, who represented Inner Manipur constituency in the Lok Sabha in the last term, said.

Bangladesh

Drawing attention to the situation in Bangladesh, Mr Singh said the rise of the groups such as Jamaat-e-Islami and remnants of HuJi-B (Harkat-ul-Islami Bangladesh) has made the situation "hydra-headed".

"There have been past instances of militants and rebels crossing into India from Bangladesh. States like Assam, Meghalaya, and Tripura remain vulnerable... During his recent visit to China, Bangladesh's interim Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus made statements regarding India's northeast region which had propagated diplomatic concern.

"... Yunus emphasised the potential for Bangladesh to facilitate China's access to the Indian Ocean, highlighting the strategic importance of the region. The statement has been perceived as an invitation for China to extend its influence into India's northeastern states via Bangladesh," Mr Singh said in the letter to PM Modi.

China

Explaining what he called "China's strategic encirclement", the former MoS for External Affairs said this is seen through military, economic, and diplomatic manoeuvres in neighbouring countries like Myanmar, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan.

"For China, it is part of a border String of Pearls strategy - creating a network of assets (ports, roads, bases, and allies) around India... Chinese influence in and around the northeast region should be countered properly in all respects," Mr Singh said.

Considering all these factors, he said, India needs to create a draft policy framework on internal security in the northeast.

"... Current ethnic conflict particularly between the Meiteis and the illegal intruders of Chin-Kuki tribes from Sagaing and Chin Hills of Myanmar should also be looked into seriously. An aggressive diplomatic channel needs to be opened for Myanmar based on mutual reciprocity," Mr Singh said in the letter to PM Modi.

He suggested four points for consideration: deport undocumented immigrants and recheck identity documents of all bonafide citizens; all law enforcement agencies should be used while carrying out this massive exercise; maintain an authentic databank of Indian citizens in the region, and bring all insurgent groups to the negotiating table for dialogue.