Myanmar shares a border with key and sensitive northeastern states, including Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur, in which terrorists ambushed a senior army officer, CO, 46 Assam Rifles and his family.
New Delhi: The 1992-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, Vinay Kumar, has been appointed as India's next ambassador to Myanmar. The Ministry of External Affairs made the formal announcement on Monday (November 15).
Vinay Kumar is presently serving as the additional secretary at the MEA's headquarters in Delhi, and he will replace the outgoing envoy Saurabh Kumar. He is expected to take up the new assignment shortly.
The appointment of a new ambassador at this juncture is critical, as Myanmar is one of India's strategic neighbours and shares a 1,640-kilometre-long border with key and sensitive northeastern states, including Mizoram, Nagaland and Manipur.
Lately, a major ambush by terrorists in remote Manipur areas claimed several lives, including a senior army officer, CO, 46 Assam Rifles and his wife and nine-year-old son.
The military coup and related developments have kept Mizoram state government officials engaged as many 'refugees' have sneaked into the state and are residing in selected rural hubs of Mizoram.
The Mizoram government has officially informed the centre that over 20,000 Myanmar refugees have been 'residing' in the state which neighbours Myanmar's Chin province by mid-September.
In Nagaland, fast progress is made vis-à-vis long pending peace talks. A particular Naga faction has a strong presence and nexus reportedly with the local 'Naga' population in Myanmar.
