The Army has said armed personnel from Myanmar army are only allowed to enter India after they surrender their weapons, along with the people from the strife-torn country.
"The directions are very clear to the forces on the Myanmar border - common villagers seeking refuge to escape the conflict in Myanmar are not stopped, they are allowed to enter our territory. There is a process which is followed in consultation with the state government and whenever they want to go back, they are sent back. But the directions are very clear that no armed cadres are allowed to enter," Lt Gen Lieutenant General Rana Pratap Kalita, who is Army's highest-ranking officer in the Eastern Command, was quoted by NDTV as having said.
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According to the report, the officer said that the Assam Rifles guarding the 1,643-km Myanmar border has been given clear instructions to allow entry not only to villagers seeking refuge from the fighting in the country but even to personnel from the Myanmar army who are pushed into India.
The Myanmar army personnel, who are forced to cross the border because of the fighting with the pro-democracy resistance forces in areas close to it, are made to surrender weapons and their identity is established before they are handed over to authorities in Myanmar, it mentioned.
The officer clarified, however, that no armed persons are being given entry and care is being taken to ensure that drug peddlers can't enter India in the garb of refugees.
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Tuesday's statement by the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-In-C) of the Eastern Command, Lieutenant General Kalita, comes in the wake of 5.000 refugees entering India last week and 60 Myanmar army soldiers being handed back to Myanmerese authorities.
Most of the refugees are entering India through Mizoram, whose tribes share a strong ethnic connection with the people in Myanmar, and some are coming in through strife-torn Manipur as well.
“We have recovered a lot of contraband drugs and narcotics from people who are coming, so we are keeping a very close eye on drug peddlers. Even when Myanmar army personnel are coming in, we are allowing them after they hand over their weapons. After proper identification, they are taken to the Moreh border (in Manipur) and handed over to Myanmarese authorities.'' he said, as per the report.
