In one of the biggest coordinated operations with the Myanmar Army, Indian Army flushed out several militant group's hideouts operating in Manipur, Nagaland, and Assam. The three-week-long operation was started on May 16 and carried out in the border areas of these states, news agency PTI reported. The first phase of the "Operation Sunrise" was carried out three months along multiple camps of the north-east-based militant groups were destroyed.
Notably, Myanmar is one of the most critical neighbours on Indian sharing a 1,640-km border. Four states of India viz. Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram, and Manipur share borders with Myanmar. Among these four states, Nagaland and Manipur have been facing militancy for a long time. In recent times, Indian has been looking for deeper coordination with the grounds forces of Myanmar to guard its porous borders in North-eastern sector.
One of the sources said that the coordinated attacks carried out by the two armies targeted militants outfits including the Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), the NSCN (Khaplang), the United Liberation Front of Assam (I) and the National Democratic Front of Boroland (NDFB).
Over six dozen militants of these groups were arrested and their several camps were destroyed during the operation. Sources further added that the armies are open to carry out the third phase of the operation provided credible intelligence inputs and the ground situation. Apart from the Indian Army, Assam rifles were also involved in the operation. The Indian Army carried out Surgical strikes against NSCN(K) militants in areas near the Indo-Myanmar border in June 2015 which was in response to the militants attack killing 18 army personnel in Manipur.
During the first phase of the "Operation Sunrise", the Indian Army had targeted the members of the Arakan Army which is an insurgent group in Myanmar opposing Kaladan multi-modal transit transport project. The Kaladan project connects Sittwe Port in Myanmar to the India-Myanmar border. The project was jointly initiated by India and Myanmar to create a multi-modal platform for cargo shipments from the eastern ports to Myanmar and to the North-eastern parts of the country through Myanmar. The project is seen as India's gateway to Southeast Asia.
