Indian investigators detain six Ukrainians and an American for allegedly training ethnic militia groups in Myanmar after illegal border crossings.
NEW DELHI: Indian investigators have arrested seven foreigners, including six Ukrainians and an American, on suspicion of illegally crossing into Myanmar to train armed militia groups.
The arrests were reported by All India Radio on Tuesday, citing a closed court in New Delhi which remanded the suspects in custody for 11 days of interrogation.
The group allegedly entered the sensitive state of Mizoram without an official permit before passing into neighbouring Myanmar. There, they were reportedly “training ethnic war groups… associated with insurgent groups in India”.
They are also suspected of illegally transporting a “huge consignment of drones from Europe” into India for use in Myanmar, according to the broadcaster.
After returning to India, officials from the National Investigation Agency arrested the Ukrainians in Delhi and Lucknow, and the American in Kolkata.
The Indian Express newspaper reported they face charges of conspiring to commit terrorist acts against the Indian state, which carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Myanmar descended into civil war after a junta seized power in a 2021 coup, with pro-democracy guerrillas and ethnic-minority armed groups fighting for control.
India has long been suspicious of certain Myanmar factions that share ethnicity with populations on the Indian side of the border, fearing a spillover of violence.
Mizoram’s chief minister claimed last year that “thousands” of Western mercenaries had passed through the state on the way to Myanmar, though the assertion is hard to verify.
India is building a 1,643-kilometre fence along its porous border with Myanmar, which runs through remote jungles and snow-capped Himalayan peaks.
Thousands of villagers, mainly from Myanmar’s Chin state, have fled into India since the civil war intensified.
