GUWAHATI, Jan 12 — India and Bhutan have decided to strengthen bilateral ties and check activities of militants through regular border district level coordination meetings. According to a report in Bhutan’s state run newspaper Kuensel, the last round of the border district coordination meeting was held at Jalpaiguri between January 7 to 9. The Joint Secretary of the Bhutanese Home Ministry, Dasho Tshering Wangda led the Bhutanese delegation, while, the Indian delegation was led by the Commissioner of Jalpaiguri division, AK Jain.
Apart from other bilateral issues, the border district level coordination meeting discussed steps to be taken to improve law and order situation on both sides of the border. The meeting decided to take up immediate steps for the identification of the international boundary with realignment of the pillars which were missing. The Government of Bhutan decided to construct a stone wall along the border, not to step movement of the local people, but for security reasons as the border town Phuentsholing is being used by the militant groups active in West Bengal and Assam. The delegations from both the countries assured each other that they would not allow their territories to be used for criminal activities against the other. The Indian and Bhutanese delegations also agreed to share information about militants and criminals.
However, it remains to be seen whether such meetings will bring the desired results as despite repeated assurances, the Government of Bhutan has not taken any effective step to evict the ULFA and NDFB militants from the territory of that country. The Government of Bhutan recently informed the Government of India that the ULFA had shifted four camps from Bhutan, but security agencies involved in counter-insurgency operations in Assam are skeptical of the issue as they are of the view that shifting of four camps would not change the scenario. Security sources said that as per inputs available, the ULFA had about 36 camps including its general headquarter and command headquarter inside Bhutan, and the outfit would continue to have strong bases in the Himalayan Kingdom even after the shifting of a handful of camps.