Paresh Baruah, exiled chief of ULFA, allegedly relocates to China

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Dipanjan Roy Chaudhury

, ET BureauLast Updated: Mar 06, 2025, 11:38:00 PM IST

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Paresh Baruah, the self-exiled chief of the banned Ulfa, has allegedly relocated to the Xishuangbanna Dai region of Yunnan from Ruili with China's assistance due to increasing regional tensions in Myanmar. Baruah's move highlights ongoing insurgencies and political complexities in the region, including the continued presence of rebels in Myanmar.

Ulfa’s Baruah Relocates to Myanmar-Thai Region

Self-exiled chief of the banned United Liberation Front of Assam (Ulfa) Paresh Baruah has allegedly relocated to Xishuangbanna Dai region of Yunnan from Ruili, close to the Arunachal Pradesh-Myanmar border, with China's help owing to tensions within Myanmar and the consequent impact across the border, according to people familiar with the matter.

Baruah was based in Ruili for years, after having lived in Bangladesh under the patronage of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. He is said to have left Bangladesh in 2008 ahead of the election that brought back Sheikh Hasina to power, fearing that the Awami League would extradite him to India.

Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Area in Yunnan Province houses a large number of Tai/Dai people who have ethnic connections with Ahoms. Further, there are uncorroborated reports that Baruah could have access to Mong la in Myanmar, which is tightly controlled by China by its proxy group NDAA in Myanmar's Shan region.

Hundreds of rebels from north-eastern India are said to be based in hideouts in the mountains north of Singkaling Hkamti in Myanmar's Sagaing region. Myanmar's military, preoccupied with ethnic rebellions in the country, has paid little attention to these insurgencies, according to experts on Myanmar affairs.

Among them is Ulfa, which advocates independence for Assam. Ulfa insurgency reached its peak in the 1990s, after which successive Indian Army campaigns forced the group to seek shelter on the Myanmar side of the border. It has been further weakened by splits and surrenders, but a significant number of Ulfa rebels can still be found in the hills of northern Sagaing.