No Indian insurgent camp in my country, says prime minister of Bhutan

There are no Indian insurgent camps in Bhutan and no militants would be allowed to enter the that country for taking shelter, Bhutan Prime Minister Jigmi Y Thinley said today.

"There are no Indian militant camps or bases in my country and we shall ensure that no militants are able to enter Bhutan," Thinley told journalists here in Guwahati, while he was on his way to Paro in Bhutan after attending a programme in the foothills of his country bordering Assam.

"After the (military offensive) Operation All Clear in 2003, we don't have any Indian militant base in our country and no prisoners also. All the captured militants were handed over to Indian authorities," the prime minister said.

Underground groups from Assam and West Bengal - the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB) and Kamatapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) fighting for independent homelands - had set up base camps in Bhutan since the mid-1990s to carry out hit-and-run guerrilla strikes on Indian soldiers.

Military offensive Operation All Clear was launched by the Royal Bhutan Army on December 15, 2003 to flush out the Indian rebels from its soil. Around 30 militants were killed, over 50 rebels were captured and handed over to Indian authorities while at least 30 camps were demolished.

Stressing on cooperation and support from India in jointly fighting terror, Thinley said, "The evil of terrorism needs to be fought effectively with the help of our friendly neighbour India."

The Bhutanese prime minister underlined the importance of furthering bilateral trade and commerce between the two neighbours stating, "We are hopeful of benefitting from the rapid economic growth in India and at the same time we are also initiating a lot of economic reforms in our country."