• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Nepal`s Maoists sending India into security alert

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

New Delhi, Jan 19, IRNA -- News of Maoist rebels of Nepal seeking 
partnership with insurgents in India`s strategic northeastern region 
for bases, has led India to put its soldiers on maximum alert along 
the 1,800-km-long border with the Himalayan kingdom. 
According to reports by an IRNA correspondent in the region, 
India`s Junior Home Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal told the press on 
Tuesday in Assam`s capital, Guwahati: "We have got some very 
disturbing reports about Maoist insurgents trying to establish links 
with militant groups from the northeastern state of Assam and then 
penetrate into the region to create terror." 
The minister said that he had intelligence reports regarding 
growing collaboration between the Maoist fighters of Nepal and the 
outlawed United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), one of the oldest 
insurgent bodies in northeast India. 
"We have put our soldiers on full alert all along the border with 
Nepal and have also decided to double the strength of border guards 
and increase the number of checkposts to prevent infiltration of 
guerillas from that country," the minister added. 
The minister expressed his concern over the disturbed situation 
in Nepal and said that he expected the consequent "adverse impact" to 
hit Indian states such as Uttaranchal, Sikkim, Uttar Pradesh and West 
Bengal. 
"There are plans by the Maoists to try to enter our territory in 
an attempt to destabilize the internal security and hence we have 
cautioned all the state governments that share a common border with 
Nepal to be vigilant," the minister said. 
India last week faced a major embarrassment when the Maoist 
fighters kidnapped 14 Indian soldiers of the Gurkha regiment returning
home from the Kailali district, some 665 kilometers west of the 
Nepalese capital Kathmandu. The famed regiment has been one of the 
original regiments of the Gurkhas, a subcontinental marshal group 
employed by the Indian Army since the colonial era. 
The minister said he was satisfied with India`s internal security 
situation, which he observed had improved most significantly in Jammu 
and Kashmir, where the rise in the number of visiting tourists is an 
indicator of the changed situation. 
He noted that infiltration of terrorists and mercenaries has come 
down in recent times as fencing of the international border in Kashmir
is almost complete. 
"Similar efforts are on along our border with Bangladesh to put 
up barbed wire fencings and in some places erect electric fences to 
prevent illegal infiltration of Bangladeshi nationals and check 
movement of militants," the minister said. 
India had earlier asked Bangladesh to prevent militants from 
operating from its soil. 
"We want Bangladesh to demolish all Indian rebel camps located in 
that country so that they will not able to carry out their hit-and- 
run guerilla strikes from there," Jaiswal said. 
2160/2321/1432