No ULFA camps in Bhutan: official

No camps or hideouts operated by the United Liberation Front of Assam exist in Bhutan, a senior official of that country said in Guwahati on Friday.

All ULFA and NDFB camps in the Himalayan kingdom were wiped out when the Royal Bhutanese Army launched Operation All Clear in 2003, said Bhutan's Joint Secretary (Home) Dasho Tsering Wangta.

"We have handed over all the militants to the Indian side," he told a press conference at the end of the fourth border district coordination meeting with officials of the Assam government in Guwahati.

Replying to a question on reports that the ULFA and other insurgent groups had re-established of bases in Bhutan, Wangta said it was the duty of Indian security agencies to ensure that the rebels did not enter the Himalayan kingdom.

"The SSB is guarding the Indo-Bhutan border and they should ensure that the ultras do not sneak into our country from India," he said.

Wangta said there was tremendous scope for cooperation in trade, commerce and tourism between the two countries. Bhutan imports 90 per cent of its essential items from India and there is further scope for increasing bilateral trade.