| Jwahar |
Posted
on 27-Nov-01 04:25 PM
India tightens security along Nepal border
NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday said its military was on alert along its borders with Nepal after violence by Maoist rebels in the Himalayan kingdom left 280 people dead in the past four days.
Nepal on Monday declared a state of emergency and mobilised its army following the worst spate of violence since the rebels launched their fight against the constitutional monarchy in 1996.
India also said it would not allow the Maoists to use its soil to launch attacks on security forces in the neighbouring country.
"We are vigilant and we are concerned by this but we will not allow Indian soil to be used by forces inimical to Nepal's interests," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Nirupama Rao told reporters in New Delhi.
"We have close and continuing contact between security forces on either side of the border to deal with such situations," she added, without elaborating.
Nepalese Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba spoke to his Indian counterpart Atal Behari Vajpayee on Monday to brief him on the security situation.
"Deuba spoke to the prime minister... and informed him of the developments in Nepal and told the prime minister of the steps taken by the Nepalese security forces," Rao said.
"Prime Minister Vajpayee expressed his understanding of the steps been taken to safeguard lives of innocent civilians in Nepal," Rao said.
"We have also condemned the recourse to violence (by the Maoist) to achieve political objectives," she said.
The frontiers between Nepal and India are porous and Nepal had already asked the government in the Indian state of West Bengal to prevent Maoists crossing the border to India where they might seek shelter or try to regroup.
At least three Indian states have been plagued by Maoist insurgencies for decades. The Indian government suspects that the Maoists in Nepal and India have links.
"We are engaged in an ongoing campaign against elements like the Maoists," Rao said.
More than 2,000 people have died as a result of the insurgency in Nepal.
The Maoists there broke a four-month truce on Friday with a series of attacks on police and army posts, local government offices and banks.
( AFP )
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