600 Myanmar Soldiers Enter India Amid Crisis, Mizoram CM Seeks Centre’s Intervention

Representational Image

New Delhi: As the conflict between the junta-regime and rebel forces in Myanmar intensifies, hundreds of Myanmar Army personnel are escaping to India. The Mizoram government has informed the centre about the situation and urged them to quickly send back the soldiers from the neighbouring country. About 600 Myanmar Army soldiers have entered India amid fierce clashes. They sought refuge in Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district after their camps were taken over by the Arakan Army (AA) militants - an ethnic armed group in the western Myanmar state of Rakhine - NDTV reported quoting government sources.

The soldiers have been accommodated in an Assam Rifles camp, they said. The situation has led to urgent discussions between Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma and Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the plenary session of the Northeastern Council meeting in Shillong.

Government sources say Mizoram stressed the need for a quick return of the Myanmar Army personnel who have taken shelter in the state. This request comes amid rising worries about the increasing tension and the effect it could have on the region’s stability. Talking to reporters after the plenary session, Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma explained the current situation.

“People are running away from Myanmar to our country for protection, and we are helping them on humanitarian grounds. Soldiers of Myanmar keep arriving, looking for shelter, and earlier we used to send them back by air. Around 450 army personnel were sent back,” Chief Minister Lalduhoma said.

Myanmar’s generals are facing their biggest challenge since they took power in a 2021 coup after three ethnic minority forces started a joint attack in late October, taking some towns and military posts and making soldiers run away.