Manipur violence: Ex-army chief flags Chinese aid to insurgents, says 'foreign role cannot be ruled out'

General (retd) Naravane pointed out that the instability in border areas is not good for the country’s national security.

Former Army Chief General talks about Manipur violence

General MM Naravane, a former commander of the Indian Army, expressed suspicion on Friday (July 28) that foreign involvement in the violence in Manipur "cannot be ruled out" and pointed to "Chinese aid to various insurgent groups."

The instability in border regions, according to General (retd) Naravane, poses a threat to the nation's security.

General (ret.) Naravane stated, "I am confident that those who are in the chair and responsible for taking whatever action is due to be taken are doing their best."

"The involvement of the foreign agencies, not only I say, cannot be ruled out, but I will say they are definitely there, especially Chinese aid to various insurgent groups," he continued.

According to the former head of the army staff, China has long supported these organizations and will do so in the future.

When asked about the role that drug trafficking has in the ongoing unrest in the northeastern state, General (retd) Naravane responded that the number of drugs that have been confiscated has only grown over time.

"The Golden Triangle, which is where the borders of Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos converge, is only somewhat distant from Us. Myanmar is governed by the military and is perpetually in disarray. 

Even in the best of times, the government of Myanmar only really had authority over its center region, not actually the bordering states with Thailand, China, or India.So, he added, drug trafficking has always existed.

'Agencies who benefit from violence'

He had a sneaking suspicion that there might be organizations or other players in the game who benefited from the violence and who did not want things to return to normal "because while this instability is there, they stand to benefit"

That could be one of the causes of the violence's persistence despite all the efforts made to stop it, which I'm sure the state and federal governments have made, the man stated.

Since May 3, Manipur has been plagued by unrest that has claimed numerous lives.

When questioned about the Agnipath army recruitment program, he responded that only time will tell if it was a successful program.

"After much thought, Agnipath was finally released. Many claim that it was started for commercial and financial purposes. That will also have an effect, but the reality is that we require a youthful army," he said.

(With input from PTI)