Myanmar clashes force thousands to flee to India

This picture taken on September 24, 2021 shows shelters for refugees at Pang village in India's eastern state of Mizoram near the Myanmar border. (AFP)
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Updated 07 July 2025
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Myanmar clashes force thousands to flee to India

  • The refugees, crossing thick forested routes to neighboring India, ran from clashes between rival Chin armed groups

NEW DELHI: Heavy fighting in war-torn Myanmar has forced nearly 4,000 people to flee into India in the last four days, Indian officials in the northeastern state of Mizoram said Monday.
The refugees, crossing thick forested routes to neighboring India, ran from clashes between rival Chin armed groups, Mizoram state home secretary Vanlalmawia, who uses only one name, told AFP.
“Many of the people have relatives on the Indian side, so they are staying with them,” he said. “Others are being housed in community halls.”
The remote hill state is already hosting more than 30,000 refugees from Myanmar, where a deadly civil war has raged since the military seized power in 2021.
A senior state police officer said “approximately 4,000 people have come in the last four days,” speaking on condition of anonymity.
Police said the fighting between the groups — both of which oppose military rule — continues for control of the region known as Chinland.
“The situation on the other side of the border remains tense, so we have not asked them to return,” the police official said.
India, which has sought to deepen ties with Myanmar as a counterweight to China’s growing influence, has shied away from explicitly condemning the military coup.


Proposals on territorial concessions by Ukraine sent to Trump: Merz

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Proposals on territorial concessions by Ukraine sent to Trump: Merz

BERLIN: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Thursday that US President Donald Trump had been sent a proposal on territorial concessions Ukraine is ready to make to end its war against Russia.
Merz said the proposal was sent after he and other European leaders had spoken by phone with Trump on Wednesday.
“It mainly concerns the question of what territorial concessions Ukraine is prepared to make,” Merz said. He cautioned however that ultimately “the Ukrainian president and the Ukrainian people have to answer the question.”
Merz, in a joint press conference with NATO chief Mark Rutte, said “it would be a mistake to force the Ukrainian president into a peace that his people will not accept after four years of suffering and death.”
On Wednesday, Trump expressed impatience with Ukraine and its European allies France, Britain and Germany.
Trump said “strong words” were exchanged in the phone call with Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Merz said that further talks with the Americans were planned this weekend and that an international meeting on Ukraine “could take place at the beginning of next week.”
“Whether the American government participates or not very much depends on the joint drafts of papers which are currently being worked on,” he said.
Merz said his conversation with Trump on Wednesday had “left the strong impression that he is ready to go down this path with us, because he knows that the Europeans and their interests have to be heard.”