India seeks Bhutan’s help

New Delhi, India has sought help from Bhutan to track down the NDFB-S militants who gunned down 78 villagers in Assam on December 23 and possibly escaped into the neighbouring country.New Delhi has asked Bhutan to cooperate in tracking down the militants who have set up camp in the dense jungles that border Assam and Bhutan. On the other hand, the Indian Army has been asked to intensify operations.Indian Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag today met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh. Later, he told reporters that the Army was “definitely going to intensify operations in Assam. The meeting was to review the security situation in Assam”.The Home Minister is believed to have asked the Army Chief to coordinate operations with the armies of Bhutan and Myanmar as the NDFB militants have bases in the two neighbouring countries.External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj spoke with Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay seeking action against the terror group and was assured of support, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said.”The External Affairs Minister has talked with the Bhutanese leadership at the highest level. We are also working on having others who could possibly help in this,” Akbaruddin said.Swaraj talked to Tobgay last evening after Home Minister Rajnath Singh requested her to seek assistance from Bhutan to tackle the banned militant group.The Home Minister had yesterday said that the government would adopt “zero-tolerance policy towards acts of terror”.Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday met Army Chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag here to discuss the situation in the North-Eastern state.The Army Chief said 66 Army columns (70 personnel in each column) have been deployed in Assam for counter-insurgency operations. The GoC of the 4 Corps, located in the worst-hit Sonitpur district, heads the Unified Command which conducts the counter-insurgency operations in Assam.Sources said the Home Minister asked the Army Chief to ensure that peace returns to the violence-hit areas and there is no flare up.