India suspects Nepal-Naxal arms nexus

Source: Kathmandu Post

NEW DELHI, OCT 25 - Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram has said that Indian Maoists might be acquiring weapons through Nepal.

“There is no evidence of any money flowing in from abroad to the Maoists. But there is certainly evidence of weapons being smuggled from abroad through Myanmar or Bangladesh, which reaches the Maoists,” Chidambaram told PTI in New Delhi.

“We know now that the weapons are coming through Bangladesh and Myanmar and possibly Nepal. The Indo-Nepal border is very porous.” He said police have not found any weapons with Pakistani marking. Asked whether some weapons are coming through Nepal, he said, “it is possible”.

“In terms of the threat to security from internal sources, Naxalism remains the biggest threat.”

Asked whether there is any Pakistan angle, Chidambaram said they were not sure where the weapons are originating from. “Even after this statement, if people romanticise the Naxalites, all I can say is that only God can help them.”

Asked if there are any groups from abroad backing the Maoists, the minister said, “I don't know. It is possible that they get some intellectual support. I hear voices of some human rights groups from abroad, which say we have unleashed a war on the Maoists. That is the intellectual support I am referring to.”

Asked if there is any evidence of external help to the Maoists, Chidambaram said it might be at the ideological level.