India and Burma cosying up in a bilateral relationship has had an adverse impact on the Naga movement for self-determination, a Naga human rights group said on Thursday.

Speaking to Mizzima on the sidelines of a conference held in New Delhi, Dr. N. Venuh, Secretary General of the Naga Peoples’ Movement for Human Rights, said increasing Indo-Burmese bilateral relationship has had a negative impact on the Naga’s movement for autonomy and self determination.

“This is India’s policy. They want to suppress the [Naga] movement. That’s why it has forged a relationship with the Burmese junta,” Dr. Venuh said.

Venuh said India’s policy of building bridges with the military rulers of Burma is part of its strategic plan to crush movements in northeast India states.

Besides bilateral trade, India and Burma, in recent years, have stepped up military cooperation with India supplying military hardware and providing technical expertise.

In exchange for armament, India has demanded Burma flush out Indian insurgents operating from northwestern Burma.

On Monday, Amnesty International said India plans to supply Burma Advanced Light Helicopters, which is made up of components from European Union member countries. AI said India’s plan threaten the EU’s arms embargo on the military ruled Southeast Asian country.

However, Venuh said, the Naga movement, encompassing Nagas living in northwestern Burma, will continue a step at a time.

“We are one, so once we achieve this side [the Indian side] we are not going to leave them [Nagas in Burma] to fend for themselves,” said Venuh. However, he admitted that there are difficulties in launching a movement under military rule and that has to come phase by phase.

Nagas, an ethnic minorities living both in Burma and India have long struggled to create an independent state that will include parts of India and Burma . The move for independence has been led by the National Socialist Council of Nagalim, which waged an armed insurgency.

However, in the late 1980s the NSCN split into two factions, with the Isak-Muivah led NSCN leading the struggle in India and Khaplang led NSCN leading it in Burma.

In August 1997, the NSCN I-M entered into a ceasefire agreement with the government of India and launched a peace process to end India’s longest running insurgency.

With the decade long ceasefire agreement expiring this month, Naga civil society groups are concerned over the prospects between the outfit and government of India.

Speaking at the “Convention on Indo-Naga Political Dialogue”, held in New Delhi, Naga civil societies voiced their concerns and agreed to have a more sustainable and cohesive networking and enlarging a pressure group for progress in Indo-Naga peace talks.
Meanwhile, the NSCN in a statement issued on Thursday asserted its opposition to any idea, programme, policy or ideology which leads to disintegration of the Naga homeland in any way, whether as a ‘union territory’ or a separate state.

It states, “…all Nagas are totally against all artificial boundaries including the so-called international boundaries between Myanmar [Burma] and India.”