Guwahati, Jan. 1: The chief of army staff, Gen. .C. Vij, today arrived at the 4 Corps headquarters in Tezpur. He will “review” the army’s role in counter-insurgency operations against the backdrop of the Bhutan offensive on militants from the Northeast.

Gen. Vij is scheduled to visit the troops deployed along the India-Bhutan border as well as forward posts in Arunachal Pradesh. “He will be briefed in detail about the present situation in Assam and Arunachal Pradesh,” a defence release said this evening. During his two-day stay, Gen. Vij will also call on chief minister Tarun Gogoi and governor Lt Gen. (retd) Ajai Singh here.

A highly-placed source at 4 Corps said Gen. Vij — who is being accompanied by Lt Gen. J.S. Varma, the general officer commanding (GOC), eastern command — will discuss the possible insurgency scenario in Assam after the dismantling of Ulfa and NDFB camps in Bhutan.

“The general will be briefed about the army’s line of action in Assam in the post-Bhutan scenario,” the source added. The army heads the operations group of the three-tier unified command structure.

Gen. Vij’s trip comes a few days after defence minister George Fernandes visited the 4 Corps on an “unscheduled” trip and discussed “all aspects of the Bhutan operations threadbare with all concerned”.

The Bhutan operations are also topmost on the agenda of chief minister Tarun Gogoi as well, who has reminded the Prime Minister about Saarc’s commitment to suppress terrorism. He has requested Atal Bihari Vajpayee to raise the question of dismantling Ulfa and NDFB camps in Bangladesh and Myanmar during the Islamabad summit, which begins on Sunday.

Gogoi made his case in a letter to Vajpayee yesterday, against the backdrop of the Royal Bhutan Army’s offensive to flush out rebel camps in the Himalayan kingdom.

“We are now expecting that the closure of the militant camps in Bhutan will be accompanied by similar operations against militant bases in Bangladesh and Myanmar so that the effect of the Bhutan operations is not diluted,” Gogoi said in his letter.

Gogoi said coming in the wake of the Bhutan operations, the Islamabad summit has assumed great importance for the state “as a regional initiative to prevent terrorism will reportedly be discussed”.

In this context Gogoi said: “For an insurgency-hit state like ours, after the adoption of the Saarc regional convention on suppression of terrorism at Kathmandu, there is a need for more effective follow-up action by all concerned.”

Ever since the RBA operations began, Dispur has been making a strong case for similar action by Myanmar and Bangladesh.

“In my opinion, the forum of Saarc can be used in right earnest to fight against terrorism,” Gogoi said, adding “Myanmar and Bangladesh, I am sure, will understand and appreciate our concern”.

Gogoi today claimed that “there are more militant camps in Myanmar than Bangladesh and Bhutan”.

Talking to mediapersons at his official residence, Gogoi hoped that the Centre would take it up with Dhaka and Yangon.