New Delhi, February 07 2010: Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi drew the attention of the Centre to the importance of effective management of the 367 km of the Manipur Sector of the Indo-Myanmar border and requested the Ministry of Home Affairs to focus on sustained attention to the Indo-Myanmar border.

Delivering his speech at the Conference of Chief Ministers on Internal Security held at Plenary Hall of Vigyan Bhawan here today, Manipur Chief Minister pointed out that the almost unchecked trans-border movement of the Indian insurgent groups and the continued existence of their camps in Myanmar posed a real threat to internal security of Manipur and the North Eastern region.

He said, "It is no secret that most arms and ammunition used against our security forces and the state police forces are smuggled in from Myanmar.

It is also known that whenever our army, Assam Rifles and the State Police launch operations, the militant groups seek and find shelter in neighbouring areas of Myanmar." He further stated, "Another serious angle is the active involvement of these insurgent groups in smuggling of huge quantities of narcotics like heroine.

The proceeds are being used to finance in the procurement of sophisticated weapons and maintaining their leaders in foreign countries and their cadres in India" .

Stating that the Myanmar government had limited control over the neighbouring Manipur, Nagaland, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh; the Chief Minister requested the Ministry of Home Affairs to consider deploying the Assam Rifles units closer to the border and advise them to set-up BOPs, like the BSF did, for effective surveillance and interception of the insurgents and other anti-national elements.

He emphasized the need for expediting the work on fencing of the most vulnerable 10 km stretch of the India- Myanmar border near Moreh town, another 10 km stretch south of Moreh town and certain other well-known cross-over points at Molcham and New Samtal in Chandel District, Behiang in Churachandpur and Kongkan Thana in Ukhrul District.

Highlighting the positive outcome after the Home Secretary level talks from January 19- 21 this year at Yangon in Myanmar, the Manipur Chief Minister asked the Centre to consult the Myanmar authorities for ascertaining the dates convenient for the first meeting within this month of the proposed meetings between the border liaison officers which the Myanmar authorities agreed to.

He believed that the initiative should be carried forward to ultimately get the Myanmar side to dismantle the camps of the Indian insurgent groups within their territory and choke their supply of arms and ammunition.

He also hoped that by doing this, the insurgent groups would come to the negotiating table.

Referring to the strengthening of State Police forces, O Ibobi stated, "As advised by MHA, most of the vacancies in Police Department have been filled up.

3997 Constables, 1505 Constable Drivers and 2587 Riflemen have been recruited and are under training." He said, "Posts for one Mahila Indian Reserve Battalion, one Commando Battalion, the Loktak Operation Force and 21 new Police Stations with 58 personnel per Police Station have been created, and the State Government proposed for financial support to the 13th Finance Commission for upgrading the training facilities and Police Stations" .

Manipur Chief Minister expressed that the State Government had adopted a multi-pronged strategy, jointly with the Army, Assam Rifles, Border Security Force and Central Reserve Police Force to deal with insurgency in Manipur.

Through the Command Headquarters under the chairmanship of Chief Minister, the State Government had been coordinating with the Army, Assam Rifles, BSF, CRPF and SIB.

Frequent meetings for coordination of counter insurgency operations among Security Forces and the State Police were held under the Strategy and Operations Group chaired by the State Chief Secretary.

During the period from January to November 2009; 1368 extremists were arrested and 279 extremists killed, 378 assorted weapons were recovered along with 6936 assorted ammunition, 130 hand grenades, 105 lethod bombs, three IEDs, 123 detonators, 13.71 Kgs of explosives and seven wireless transmission sets.

One hundred ninety one extremists were detained under National Security Act and 11 extremists were surrendered.

The Chief Minister informed the meeting that in consultation with the Ministry of Home Affairs, the State Government had entered into tripartite agreements with Kuki Militant Groups namely KNO and UPF since August 2008.The Joint Monitoring Group set-up to supervise the suspension of operations had provided a forum for addressing the problem of extortions and other violations by the cadres.

Ten designated camps were ready within March 2010 .

Underlining the importance of securing National Highway-39, the lifeline of Manipur, the Chief Minister reminded to the MHA for expediting the proposal to the sanction of two additional Indian Reserve Battalions � one each for providing dedicated security to NH-39 and Loktak Downstream Hydro-Electricity Project.

He requested the Ministry, in the meantime, to restore the three BSF Battalions withdrawn from the State during election in Jharkhand for deployment along NH-39 and for providing security for completion of important development projects like Thoubal Multipurpose Project and the Dolaithabi Barrage Project.

Manipur Chief Minister expressed his confidence that working out together for an affective and practical strategy to tackle insurgency would bring peace and development to the people of Manipur.

Manipur Chief Secretary DS Poonia and Director General of Police Y Joykumar accompanied the Chief Minister in the meeting.

In his inaugural address, the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh listed various threats to the internal security in the country, including threats from across the border, Naxalism and insurgency in North-east.

"Each one of these threats requires determination, hard work and continuous vigilance to tackle.

These threats to our society and country constitute a challenge that we must and shall overcome at all costs," the Prime Minister said.

Apart from coordinating efforts, Dr Manmohan Singh urged the Chief Ministers to create Special Intervention Units in their States to enhance the speed and decisiveness of the Quick Response Teams.

"The States may also like to develop specialized commando forces which could be deployed to act as a deterrent to terrorist acts.

I would urge Chief Ministers to make full use of the scheme formulated by the Central Government to assist the Special Branches of States in strengthening their intelligence capabilities", he said.

Referring to the statistical account of violence taken place in the country, he stated that in the North-East also, the number of incidents had gone down in 2009 as compared to 2008 .

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