Politics / Northeast

NEW DELHI, February 17: The World Wildlife Fund international has apologised to India for wrongly depicting the forest areas of Jammu and Kashmir as disputed areas and Arunachal Pradesh as disputed territory between India and China, in its world map, reports UNI. The WWF communicated this to the Ministry of External Affairs, which had taken up this issue with it through its mission in Berne, Switzerland. The WWF informed the government that it has stopped the distribution of the map and taken steps to rectify the error. The error was brought to the MHA's notice by member of parliament Prahlad...

GUWAHATI, February 15: The growing links of the militant outfits of the Northeast region with foreign countries is causing concern among the security forces engaged in the counter-insurgency operations. Police sources said that at present almost all the major militant outfits operating in the region have foreign links and their leaders very often take shelter in foreign countries to escape the security net. Sources revealed that the first recorded links between NE militants with foreign countries dated back to 1960s when the Naga militants established contacts in China. In fact, the Isak...

GUWAHATI, February 14: In an alarming development, a group of Bangladeshi intellectuals have launched a cyber war to divide India and mooted a proposal to form a confederation comprising Bangladesh and the Northeastern States of India. The intellectuals are using the website www.deja.com to propagate their idea of inclusion of the Northeastern States of India with Bangladesh and according to security sources, such propaganda may result in serious consequences for the security of the country. In an article published in the website, A H Jaffor Ullah, a Bangladeshi national, who now lives in...

SHILLONG, February 14: The former Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh, Faruq Sobhan yesterday reiterated that his country was committed to cooperation with India to stop insurgency which was wreaking havoc in the Northeastern States. "Bangla's stand on the issue of insurgency is very firm, articulate and positive," he said, denying charges that Bangladesh is sheltering militants from the Northeast. He was interacting with newsmen here last afternoon. Observing that there is a feeling in India that Bangladesh is not interested in extending its cooperation in dealing with ultras hiding there, he...

GUWAHATI, February 11: The people of Bhutan have expressed their willingness to take up arms, if necessary, to evict the ULFA and Bodo militants from Bhutan, said a report in the Himalayan Kingdom's state run weekly Kuensel. Pressure is mounting on the Government of Bhutan to evict the ULFA and NDFB militants from the territory of Bhutan as the Bhutanese people have expressed concern over the presence of the militants. The continued presence of the ULFA and Bodo militants has become an increasingly serious threat to the security and sovereignty of the country and could take away the peace and...

GUWAHATI, February 11: There are a lot of commonalities between India's Northeast and Bangladesh which can be harnessed for mutual benefit, especially in the economic sphere. Ranked almost parallelly in terms of development, the people of these two areas could benefit immensely if economic integration could be brought about. That was the crux of a discussion on "India's Northeast and Bangladesh Problems of Opportunities" that was held at the Vivekananda Kendra here this evening. Organised by The Centre for Northeast Studies and Policy Research (C-NES), New Delhi, in association with The Assam...

NEW DELHI, February 10: The growing warmth in the ties between India and Myanmar is likely to see opening of the barriers for cross-border movement of people through Northeast to the neighbouring country. When the Foreign Minister of India, Jaswant Singh, will cross the international border at Moreh in Manipur on Tuesday morning he may well mark the beginning of the opening up of the border with Myanmar for movement of people. The External Affairs Minister heading a delegation of Indian Government will be in Myanmar on a three-day official visit to the country, first since late Rajiv Gandhi's...

GUWAHATI, February 5: Insurgency in Assam cannot be compared with that of Jammu and Kashmir as Pakistan's role in Kashmir was direct, said the Union Home Minister, L K Advani. Addressing a Press conference here today, Advani virtually ruled out the possibility of a unilateral ceasefire in Assam and said that all decisions in respect of Jammu and Kashmir are adopted taking into account the role of Pakistan. The Union Home Minister said that talks and violence cannot go together and the ULFA must abjure violence for talks. He said that the government of India is willing to hold unconditional...

GUWAHATI, January 28: The King of Bhutan has said that if Bhutan failed to convince the militants belonging to the ULFA and NDFB to leave Bhutanese soil through peaceful negotiation, it would be left with no alternative but to resort to military action. Addressing the people's representatives of Sarpang area of Bhutan recently, the King said that the ULFA and NDFB cadres were seasoned militants, who had been fighting the Indian Army for years. He pointed out that the ULFA and the NDFB militants entered Bhutan in the early 1990s to escape from the military operations launched against them by...

GUWAHATI, January 25: The Centre has once again urged Bhutan to flush out ULFA and Bodo militants from the jungles in the southern part of the Himalayan kingdom. Official sources said a senior Union home ministry official made the request on the Centre's behalf during a meeting with Bhutanese bureaucrats at the Bhutan Embassy in New Delhi last night. Bhutanese ambassador Dago Tshering was present at the dinner meeting between G.K. Pillai, joint secretary in charge of Northeast affairs in the Union home ministry, and a team of visiting officials from the Himalayan kingdom. Giving details of the...