National Security Adviser Ajit Doval will visit Myanmar soon to discuss further “joint action” against insurgents, the disclosure came a day after the Indian Army carried out twin surgical strikes in that country liquidating at least 20 insurgents and critically injuring 11 others. Doval, who is said to have been closely involved in planning the early morning raids along the India-Myanmar border on Tuesday, will visit the country to discuss with the authorities “further joint action” against Northeast insurgents, top Government sources said.
The Government and Armies of the two countries are in “close and continued” contact on the issue, they said. Indian Ambassador to Myanmar Gautam Mukhopadhaya, meanwhile, reviewed the post-operation situation with senior officials of the Myanmar Government in the capital Nay Pyi Taw. For the Tuesday operation by the Indian Army against the insurgent groups, the sources said India invoked May 2014 Border Agreement with Myanmar on border cooperation.
India and Myanmar had signed the MoU on border operation on May 8 last year, providing for a framework for security cooperation and exchange of information between security agencies of the two countries. A key provision of the pact was conduct of coordinated patrols on their respective sides of the international border and the maritime boundary by the Armed Forces of the two countries.
At a meeting on June 4, chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh and attended by Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, NSA Ajit Doval, Army Chief Dalbir Singh Suhag and others, it was initially suggested that the attack on militant camps should be carried out the very next day, the sources said. However, the operation was deferred till Monday due to technical issues. Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was on a two-day official visit to Bangladesh was briefed on Sunday evening and after his sanction, the strikes were executed with precision in the wee hours on Tuesday.
Doval who was supposed to have accompanied PM Modi on his official visit to Dhaka quietly stayed back to plan the first of its kind daring surgical strike on foreign soil. Doval camped in Manipur to plan the complex exercise in the run up to the successful operation. Meanwhile, the Army Chief also undertook a visit to Manipur to oversee the execution of the planned pre-emptive and retaliatory strikes against the North-East ultras.
During the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday, the special forces personnel were airdropped deep inside the Myanmar territory, closer to the camps of the militants, and the strike started at 3 am on Tuesday.