United National Liberation Front (UNLF)

A distinctive feature of insurgency in India’s North-East and neighbouring Myanmar has been the tendency among rebel groups to form alliances. Cooperation is deemed advantageous in a hostile terrain, against a powerful and better organised enemy. Several coalitions were formed in Myanmar by the separatist insurgent outfits with well-defined objectives which, however, failed to produce any significant impact on the campaign for independence of the region.

• Rajeev Bhattacharyya
• October 2015
• Journal of Defence Studies

Vice President Hamid Ansari’s four-day visit to Myanmar from February 5 to 8, 2009 was significant for business matters as India and Myanmar signed agreements with regard to Tata Motors setting up a truck manufacturing unit in Myanmar, cross-border transport, telecommunications, the establishment of English Language training Centre and Industrial Training Centre at Pakokku.

• Namrata Goswami
• February 18, 2009
• IDSA Comments

Normal life in Manipur was drastically affected between March 17 and 19, 2008 when 15 migrants were killed by unidentified armed militants. While there have been accusations that local militants might have been behind the killings, militant groups have categorically denied their involvement. There is likelihood that foreign terrorist groups were involved in the killings to create ethnic apprehension and conflict between migrants and natives.

• T. Khurshchev Singh
• April 29, 2008
• IDSA Comments

India's "troubled Northeast' has become a catch-all phrase for the region, and leads to the perception that the entire region is in a state of near-anarchy. The reality is otherwise; analysis shows that patterns of violence have been showing continuous decline in the region as a whole over the past few years and, more significantly, that the current violence is now substantially concentrated in the states of Manipur and Assam.

• M. Amarjeet Singh
• December 09, 2006
• IDSA Comments

The arrest of three United National Liberation Front (UNLF) leaders at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi on October 2, 2006 necessitates an evaluation of the external linkages of Meitei militant outfits. Apart from having close connections with their sister outfits in the north-eastern states, major Meitei outfits like the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and the UNLF have been attempting to revamp themselves by tying up with foreign outfits and agencies directly or indirectly.

• T. Khurshchev Singh
• November 21, 2006
• IDSA Comments