Myanmar Border
New Delhi accuses Beijing of helping rebel groups on Myanmar border
New Delhi: Highlighting another point of contention between the two warring neighbours, Indian officials say China is assisting rebel groups that have stepped up attacks on its border with Myanmar in recent months.
Armed groups in Myanmar -- including the United Wa State Army and the Arakan Army, which was designated a terrorist organization this year -- are acting as Beijing’s proxies by supplying weapons and providing hideouts to insurgent groups in India’s northeastern states, Indian officials with knowledge of the situation, who asked not to be identified due to rules for speaking with the media, were quoted as saying by Bloomberg.
The officials told Bloomberg that multiple security agencies warned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government that at least four of India’s most wanted insurgent leaders were in the southern Chinese city of Kunming to train and source weapons as recently as mid-October.
The group -- including three ethnic Naga rebels fighting for a separate homeland in an area straddling the India-Myanmar border -- met with acting and retired Chinese military officials as well as other middlemen who make up an informal network, the Indian officials said.
The Chinese foreign ministry has rejected the claims. “China has always taken a prudent and responsible attitude toward arms exports,” the ministry said in written responses to questions as quoted by Bloomberg.
“We only conduct military trade in cooperation with sovereign states and do not sell arms to non-state actors," the ministry said.
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