In Doklam, Both Sides Have Improved Their Infrastructure

Lieutenant General Manoj Mukund Naravane, who assumes charge as the vice chief of Army staff on August 31, is likely to become chief of Army staffwhen General Bipin Rawat retires on December 30.

- Rabi Banerjee

Known as the Army's northeast specialist, Naravane has commanded the Assam Rifles as well as the Rashtriya Rifles battalion in Jammu and Kashmir, and played a key role in discussions on confidence building measures with the People's Liberation Army of China following the 2017 China-India border standoff at Doklam, where Indian troops had stopped Chinese troops from extending a road towards the Bhutan border. The eastern Army commander has also been actively involved in the plans for restructuring the Army.

Excerpts from an exclusive interview:

How many insurgent camps exist in Myanmar?

There are no definitive figures. The camps could be semi-permanent structures made of bamboo, to temporary locations where a few plastic sheets are tied together between trees. The temporary camps are generally transient in nature, and depending on the ground situation, shift from one location to another. Though we have adequate information on the semi-permanent camps, information on the transient camps is less forthcoming. In many instances, camps are clustered together, with each cluster belonging to different factions. It is our endeavour to keep a real time track of all these camps.

The Myanmar army is driving insurgent groups out of its territory. Does this augur well for India?

Myanmar is a sovereign country which understands its security imperatives. National security interests of India and Myanmar converge as far as insurgent groups are concerned. These groups have abandoned their ideologies in favour of activities like drug smuggling, human trafficking, and other transborder crimes, which have become their mainstay for funding of subversive activities. Hence, it is in the interest of both countries to work together, not only to stop insurgent activities, but also to ensure that transborder crimes are not committed, thereby choking their sources of funding.