Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma has indicated that Western mercenaries who fought in the Russia-Ukraine war could be using his State as a passage to participate in the civil war in Myanmar.
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Mizoram and Myanmar share a 510-km-long border.
“We have specific intelligence that the Ukraine war veterans travelled to Myanmar’s Chin State via Mizoram to train rebel outfits fighting the military junta,” he told the 40-member Assembly on Monday (March 10, 2025), suggesting international conflicts could be spilling into India’s northeastern border.
Mr. Lalduhoma said a spike in the number of foreign visitors, including those from the U.K. and the U.S., has raised concerns about the security in Mizoram and the region beyond. “Our State recorded some 2,000 Western visitors between June and December last year (2024), yet we hardly see foreign tourists on the streets of Aizawl,” he said.
He cited the case of British national Daniel Newey, who was arrested at the Lengpui Airport on June 19, 2024, for carrying live ammunition. He also pointed to the recent unannounced visit to Aizawl by the U.S. Ambassador to India, underscoring the region’s strategic importance.
Mr Lalduhoma suggested the primary objective of the visits by Ukraine war veterans might be linked to Myanmar’s internal affairs with both China and the U.S. — two global superpowers engaged in a tariff war now — playing a role in regional conflicts.
Reports say that the Russia-Ukraine war saw two waves of foreign fighters — the first in 2014 to join Ukrainian volunteer battalions and pro-Russia separatist groups during the war in the Donbas and the second in 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“The shifting geopolitical landscape in Myanmar and its impact in adjoining regions prompted the reimposition of the Protected Area Permit (PAP) and the suspension of the Free Movement Regime (FMR),” he said.
A PAP is a document non-Indians need to possess to visit certain areas in the country, mainly in the northeast, due to security concerns. The FMR, established in 2018 as a part of India’s Act East policy, allowed residents along the India-Myanmar border to travel up to 16 km (from the boundary line) in each other’s territory without a visa.
Mr. Lalduhoma said the State government opposed the move to reimpose the PAP but it has recognised the Centre’s security concerns. “Certain developments reinforce the need for stricter regulations, and the reimposition of PAP by the Centre was a necessary step,” he added.
Referring to the FMR, he emphasised the challenge of balancing humanitarian obligations toward the Chin people of Myanmar with maintaining law and order. The Chins are ethnically related to the Mizos of Mizoram and the Kuki-Zos of adjoining Manipur.
“We need to address the needs of our Chin brothers who sought refuge in Mizoram but we must be wary of law and order problems that can arise,” the Chief Minister said.
“There has been a substantial rise in drug and arms smuggling along the international border. The people of Mizoram feel that unrestricted movement has heightened security risks, particularly concerning narcotics and illegal arms,” he said.
