India’s recent drone strikes on insurgent camps in Myanmar represent a significant escalation in New Delhi’s regional security posture and a direct challenge to China’s covert influence strategy in Southeast Asia.

These precision operations, reportedly involving over 100 drones, targeted key bases of the United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent (ULFA-I) and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland-Khaplang (NSCN-K) in Myanmar’s Naga Self-Administered Zone, close to the India-Myanmar border. 

The strikes are said to have killed senior ULFA-I commanders, including Nayan Asom (Nayan Medhi), Ganesh Asom, and Pradip Asom, and injured at least 19 others.

For years, insurgent groups like ULFA-I and NSCN-K have functioned as proxies for Beijing, armed through Chinese grey market networks operating out of Yunnan. These groups have been instrumental in guarding critical infrastructure linked to China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), such as the Kyaukpyu–Mandalay corridor, which is vital for China’s energy and logistics supply chains to the Indian Ocean.

By providing security and logistical support—often in cooperation with Chinese private security contractors—these insurgents have helped Beijing maintain plausible deniability while exerting influence in Myanmar and across India’s north-eastern frontier.

India’s strikes have exposed and directly undermined China’s model of using non-state actors to project power and secure its interests in the region. By dismantling the leadership of ULFA-I and NSCN-K, India has disrupted a key element of China’s informal security buffer, threatening the stability of BRI-linked ventures, including mining zones and future rail projects in Myanmar. This action raises the operational costs for Chinese private security firms and jeopardises China’s ambitions to bypass the Malacca Strait for energy imports.

The strikes come at a time when Myanmar’s military junta is under severe pressure from ethnic militias and the People’s Defence Forces. The junta’s growing dissatisfaction with Chinese interference has, according to intelligence sources, nudged it closer to New Delhi, even if no official alignment has been declared. India’s actions may further encourage Myanmar to recalibrate its relationship with Beijing, given the junta’s frustration with China’s involvement in its internal affairs.

Despite widespread reports and statements from ULFA-I acknowledging the strikes and casualties, the Indian Army and government have officially denied any involvement, maintaining strategic ambiguity. This denial preserves operational secrecy and diplomatic flexibility, especially given the sensitive nature of cross-border military actions.

By targeting these camps, India has dealt a blow not only to insurgent capabilities but also to the broader Chinese security architecture in Myanmar. The destabilisation of BRI supply lines in Sagaing and the disruption of proxy networks may force China to reconsider its low-cost security model in the region, potentially making its investments more vulnerable and expensive to protect.

India’s kinetic action in Myanmar marks a turning point in the regional balance of power. It signals New Delhi’s willingness to counter Beijing’s shadow operations directly, disrupt proxy networks, and assert its strategic interests along its eastern frontier and beyond.

Based On A News18 Report