Guwahati, Aug 20: The porous India-Myanmar border security spanning 1,643 km across Arunachal Pradesh, Nagal and, Manipur, and Mizoram present the most acute and multifaceted security challenges to the North East region. Security sources told The Assam Tribune that the first problem is insurgency and cross-border militancy.

Indian insurgent groups like NSCN-IM, NSCN-K, PLA, ULFA (I), UNLF, KCP maintain camps and training bases in Myanmar's ethnic armed organisation-control-led areas (Chin, Sagaing, Kachin, Shan States). These serve as safe havens for planning attacks, arms smuggling, cadre training, and cross-border strikes into Manipur, Nagal and, and Arunachal Pradesh.

Insurgents retreat easily after operations and run extortion networks funding activities in India. In a major development, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) uncovered that a US national (Matthew Aaron Van Dyke) and six Ukrainian mercenaries provided tactical training in drone warfare to Chin Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs) in Myanmar.

These groups are closely linked to Indian insurgent outfits. The mercenaries also facilitated the supply of drones from Europe via India.

This external support directly led to the first reported use of weaponised drones by militants on Indian soil in September 2024. Sources said that Kuki insurgents dropped over 40 bombs and grenades on villages in Manipur (Koutruk and Kadangb and areas), significantly increasing the range, precision, and lethality of attacks.

The third major threat is narcoterrorism and drug trafficking. Narcoterrorism linked to the Golden Triangle compounds the militancy, with porous routes from Myanmar's Shan and Kachin States serving as conduits for heroin, methamphetamine, and narcotics via hubs like Moreh and Sugnu Churachandpur.

Sources revealed that insurgents levy taxes on consignments, creating a direct narcoterrorism nexus. Local poppy cultivation in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh adds to the supply.

8 kg crystal meth. 33 lakh kg drugs valued at approximately Rs 2,000 crore by the NCE.

Refugee influx and ethnic tensions are another cause of worry. The post-2021 Myanmar military coup has triggered a sustained influx of refugees, primarily from Chin State and Sagaing Division, into Mizoram and Manipur due to ongoing armed conflict, junta atrocities, and clashes between ethnic armed organisations.