Amid Manipur unrest, govt to seal Myanmar border, put an end to free movement regime

NEW DELHI: New Delhi: Home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday announced the govt’s decision to fence the entire 1,643-km Indo-Myanmar border, complete with a patrolling track alongside for better surveillance, citing the Narendra Modi govt’s commitment to making the country’s borders “impenetrable”.
Shah’s declaration, made on X, signals the imminent end of the free movement regime (FMR) with Myanmar, which allows tribes living along the border on either side visa-free travel up to 16 km inside the neighbouring country. Sources indicated that MHA has pitched for discontinuation of FMR — given how it has ended up facilitating illegal immigration into the hill areas here, and movement of insurgents as well as trafficking of narcotics and arms — and sent a recommendation to this effect, to the ministry of external affairs. Though the formal decision will be announced after the foreign ministry takes up the matter with Myanmar, Shah’s public statement declares the govt’s intent to pull out of the agreement.
While Mizoram has publicly pushed for continuation of the FMR, MHA’s stand shows that the govt has made up its mind, keeping in mind the security considerations, both internal and external.
Incidentally, the home minister’s post on X didn’t touch upon the fate of FMR, even though he had announced during a Sashastra Seema Bal event in Assam last month that govt was reconsidering FMR agreement with Myanmar and would soon end free movement into India.
Shah’s post said, “Out of the total (Indo-Myanmar) border length, a 10-km stretch in Moreh, Manipur, has already been fenced. Furthermore, two pilot projects of fencing through a hybrid surveillance system are under execution. They will fence a stretch of 1 km each in Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. Additionally, fence works covering approx 20 km in Manipur have also been approved, and the work will start soon.”
The decision to fence the Indo-Myanmar border comes amid a long period of unrest in Manipur, which shares a 398-km border with Myanmar. Security agencies link the ethnic violence to an extent to the illegal influx and settling of tribals from across the border in hill areas of Manipur, taking undue advantage of the FMR to alter the state’s demography.
A top official of Manipur government told TOI that just like the fencing of Tripura’s border with Bangladesh had brought dividends by significantly reducing insurgency, fencing of the Indo-Myanmar border is certain to have a positive impact on security of the adjoining Indian states. “The movement of people across the land border will be recorded as they will need to pass through designated crossings or integrated checkposts.
Even insurgents and traffickers will need to find gaps in the fence to escape border surveillance,” said the officer.
At the same time, the officer warned that there is bound to be opposition from some quarters to the discontinuation of FMR and fencing. “People belonging to the hill tribes of Manipur may create roadblocks by refusing to part with their land for construction of the fence,” said the officer.
While Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh share over 500 km border with Myanmar, a 215-km border stretch of Nagaland runs alongside Myanmar.