The arrest of an American and 6 Ukrainians in India last month is a demonstration that European war and politics are extending itself to several remote corners of the world, this time to India’s Northeast

Northeast India is often described as the country’s strategic “soft underbelly”. The region’s geographical isolation, connected by the narrow Siliguri Corridor, its historical insurgencies and porous frontiers, sharing international borders with five neighbouring countries – make it a peculiarly sensitive location.  

The five international boundaries that kiss the Indian sub-continent include Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, Bhutan, and Nepal. As a matter of fact, nearly 99% of the region’s boundaries are international, totalling over 5,100 km, spanning the eight sister states of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura, collectively referred to India’s Northeast.

This region faces unique security challenges, including ethnic conflict and foreign influence, leading to high security sensitivity, coupled with perceived marginalization

Therefore, the arrest of seven foreign operatives, including an American and six Ukrainian nationals in March 2026, came as another reminder that despite changing times, the security of the region will always present challenges to the Indian state.    

India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested seven foreign nationals—including American Matthew Aaron VanDyke and six Ukrainians – on March 13, 2026, at airports in Delhi, Lucknow, and Kolkata. The Ukrainians have been identified as Hurba Petro, Slyviak Taras, Ivan Sukmanovskyi, Stefankiv Marian, Honcharuk Maksim and Kaminskyi Viktor.

According to American VanDyke’s personal website, he participated in the Iraq War and Libya’s civil war. He is the founder of a Washington DC-based consulting firm called Sons of Liberty International. The organisation’s website says it “provides free security consulting and training services to vulnerable populations to enable them to defend themselves against terrorist and insurgent groups”. The company also ran operations in Ukraine between 2022 and 2023, when it provided training and advice to Ukraine’s military in using non-lethal equipment. 

The background of the Ukrainian detainees remains unclear.  

The seven have been charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) for illegal entry into India, without Protected Area Permits, and then crossing into Myanmar to train ethnic armed groups in drone warfare. They have been remanded to NIA custody for further interrogation. 

They have also been charged with supplying military equipment, using the region as a transit base for smuggling weapons and assisting insurgent groups with connections to Myanmar’s conflict zones. 

The charges include: 

Weapons supply chain: Operatives are accused of........

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