Foreign Hand Suspected In Keeping Manipur Burning As Pakistan And China Send Funds, Weapons To Violence-Hit State: Report

China and Pakistan are working to escalate the violence in Manipur and are sending funds and weapons to keep it burning, as per intelligence reports accessed by News18.

The two countries are allegedly sending in terrorists and funding radicals through Nepal, supplying arms and weapons to fighters, and controlling drug trafficking operations in the region bordering Myanmar.

The intelligence note suggests that China has deployed its Secret Service (MSS) to hire Nepali traders as spies to fund radical groups in Manipur. Both China and Pakistan are reportedly using Nepal as a silent territory to infiltrate the region with terrorists and weapons.

Chinese weapons have been recovered from fighters in Manipur, indicating that they were systematically sent via Myanmar over a period of time, as per the intelligence report.

Recently, heavily armed groups from Myanmar were involved in setting buildings on fire in the Moreh area on 26 July, leading to clashes between Kukis and Meiteis. Investigations revealed that these groups were equipped with Chinese weapons and arms.

The Manipur crisis is also viewed as an opportunity for China and Pakistan to create another border dispute and potentially "create another Kashmir".

Another reason for China and Pakistan to exploit the Manipur crisis is the region's connectivity to other South Asian countries, which they can use to highlight the alleged lack of development by the Indian government in the North East.

Contrary to this narrative, the Indian government has initiated significant development projects in the North East, including road connectivity in Imphal-Moreh, Sikkim-Kalimpong-Darjeeling region, Dima-Kohima road, and Nagaon bypass in Arunachal Pradesh.

Additionally, there has been an increase in the number of airports, and the Armed Forces' Special Powers Act (AFSPA) has been withdrawn from many regions.

A UN report from January pointed to large-scale poppy cultivation in Myanmar, near the Manipur border, following the country's military coup in February 2021.

The Manipur government had launched a 'war on drugs' campaign in 2017, resulting in the destruction of thousands of acres of poppy farms in the state.