THE PROTECTION OF NORTH EAST BORDER AREAS AND CROSS BORDER INSURGENCY

The armed insurrections in north-east India have tested the Indian military might for over four decades. The region is characterised by widespread conflicts which are related to the geography of the region, the multi ethnicity of its population and the political and economic feeding grounds of discontent. The conflict dynamics range from insurgency for secession to insurgency for autonomy, from sponsored terrorism to ethnic clashes, to conflicts generated as a result of a continuous inflow of migrants from across the borders, as well as from the other states of the country. Terrorism in the region can best be understood as a rational strategy to achieve political and personal ends, both through the use of extreme violence and intimidation through the instrumentalities of the state and at times with the complicity of the state's agencies Border areas have their own problems and peculiarities. Such areas are in general less accessible, making provision of basic facilities more difficult and costly. Such areas are often more vulnerable to illegal infiltration of population, which adds pressure on their economic and environmental resources. Moreover, porous nature of the border enables easy cross border passage for insurgents and criminals including drug traffickers. Thus, governments of the states with international border are required to bear heavier burden for not only providing basic facilities to the people living in such areas but also for the broader national goal of securing the border. The Northeast region with 99 per cent of its boundary being international border, the problems and peculiarities are even more accentuated. The region consists of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim. The region is located between latitudes 290 and 220 North and longitudes about 89.46 and 97.5/ East. The region is covering an area of 262185 sq. km, which is nearly 8 per cent of the total geographical area of the country. The region has a population of 389.84 Lakh that is 3.79 per cent of the total population of India. The region has a vast coverage of forest nearly 55 per cent of the total geographical area. The States of the region are surrounded by China, Bangladesh, Myanmar and Bhutan. In fact, the region has a long international border of (5182 km), which is more than 99 percent of its total geographical boundary. These States have international border with China (1395 km), Bhutan (455 km), Myanmar (1640 km), Bangladesh (1596 km) and Nepal (97 km).