NEW DELHI, Oct 13 � India has postponed the Home Secretary-level talks with Myanmar at the eleventh hour, citing cyclone Hudhud.
The three-day Home Secretary-level talks were scheduled to get under way today, but the Centre in a sudden move, deferred it late last night as Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami was needed for crisis management in Delhi, sources said.
The Home Secretary, meanwhile, attended a high-level briefing chaired by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, which reviewed the relief and rehabilitation measures taken in Andhra Pradesh and Odisha after the cyclone hit the two States.
However, the postponement of the meeting came as a surprise to the Government of Myanmar, more so as it was done in the late hours of Sunday, said sources.
The free run enjoyed by militants in Myanmar, smuggling of drugs among other issues were high on the agenda of the talks, sources said.
The high-level meeting came within months of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj�s visit to Myanmar in August.
However, the Centre is learnt to be upset because of the unchecked activities of the North-eastern insurgent groups in Myanmar territory, notwithstanding the neighbouring country�s repeated assurances about not allowing activities inimical to India from its soil. The anti-talk faction of ULFA and elusive commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah continue to operate out of Myanmar.
The presence of Indian insurgent groups in Myanmar has been the single most important security issue for India at every bilateral security negotiation, including the Home Secretary and Sectoral Level meetings held every year in pursuance of the 1994 MoU between India and Myanmar, said sources.
