“Insurgency Levels Down, Drug Smuggling Up; ₹ 810 Cr Of Trans-border Contraband Seized in 2023”

Jorhat: In our series, ‘Sentinels of the North East‘, Lt Gen (Dr) P.C. Nair, Director General, Assam Rifles speaks exclusively to StratNews Global Associate Editor Amitabh P. Revi in Jorhat. The DG discusses the role, capacities, capabilities and challenges of India’s oldest paramilitary force. He explains the Assam Rifles’ roles: along the 1,643 km long India-Myanmar border, and in counter-insurgency. Lt General Nair talks about the Assam Rifles response during the Manipur violence , the huge drug seizures from across the border, who is behind the upward trend in contraband smuggling, illegal migration, the general downward trend of insurgency, the role of external forces, the future role of the force he leads, the situation across the Burma border, the lessons learnt from the 2021 ambush killing in Manipur of Col Viplav Tripathi, his wife, minor son and four Assam Rifles’ personnel by insurgents, the mistaken identity killings in Mon, Nagaland and the fallout that the Assam Rifles have reversed, and the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA).