A commentary published on May 1, 2026, highlights how illegal arms trafficking and separatist movements have created a complex transnational security challenge across the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), India’s northeast, and Myanmar’s border regions. The article traces the roots of the crisis to the armed insurgency in the CHT during the 1970s–1990s, when the Shanti Bahini, the armed wing of the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti, fought against Bangladeshi forces. Despite the 1997 peace accord, the withdrawal of army camps and administrative gaps allowed new armed groups such as the United People’s Democratic Front and Kuki-Chin National Front to emerge.

The analysis links the current instability to Myanmar’s post-2021 turmoil, which has turned border areas into open markets for weapons including AK-series rifles and rocket launchers. It warns that short-term geopolitical tolerance of such instability has backfired, threatening all regional states. The author calls for a multi-dimensional strategy emphasizing trilateral cooperation among Bangladesh, India, and Myanmar, modernization of border surveillance through drones and sensors, real-time intelligence sharing, and socio-economic development of border communities.

The piece concludes that only sustained political will and joint security frameworks can prevent the shadow conflict from escalating into a wider South Asian crisis.