Officials said on Monday that the Free Movement Regime (FMR) or Regulated Movement Regime (RMR) facility allows eligible residents of villages located within 10 km of the India-Myanmar border on either side to undertake regulated cross-border movement.
A defence spokesman said the scale of legitimate movement under the FMR/RMR also indicated that the mechanism was not intended to prevent people-to-people contact, but to regulate such movement in accordance with prescribed conditions, IANS reported.
According to official records, 16,428 Border Passes have been issued so far, the spokesman was reported as saying.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced in 2024 that the earlier FMR, which allowed people residing along the India-Myanmar border to travel up to 16 km into each other’s territory without a passport or visa, would be scrapped. It decided to replace it with a pass system for border residents of India and Myanmar living within 10 km on either side of the frontier.
The decision has been opposed by the Nagaland and Mizoram governments, political parties and civil society organisations in the two states, particularly over the proposed fencing of the border and the replacement of the earlier FMR.
Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram share a 1,643-km unfenced border with Myanmar. The MHA had earlier decided to fence the entire border, citing the porous frontier and concerns over the smuggling of arms and ammunition, narcotics, illegal cross-border movement and other contraband. The project was estimated to cost Rs 31,000 crore.
The Assam Rifles has said the Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) delegation was stopped at Avangkhu in Meluri district on September 19 because it did not have the required authorisation to cross the international border, and not because of its identity or the stated purpose of its visit.
In a statement issued through the Press Information Bureau (Defence Wing) late on Sunday night, the Assam Rifles said eight persons arrived at the designated crossing point in three vehicles at around 11:30 am and expressed their intention to cross towards Tsera in Myanmar.
According to the statement, the delegation was asked to produce documents required for authorised cross-border movement but was unable to provide a valid Border Pass or permission issued by the competent authority.
The statement was issued in response to reports alleging that the NSF delegation had been stopped from travelling to Myanmar while undertaking a proposed cultural-exchange programme.
“It is hereby clarified by the Assam Rifles that the movement of the delegation of the NSF towards Myanmar was stopped in the absence of the requisite authorisation required for crossing the international border and not on account of its identity or the stated purpose of its visit,” the statement said.
The Assam Rifles described the matter as one of “regulatory compliance” rather than a denial of cultural or people-to-people contact. It also alleged that statements and messages circulated on social media were portraying the incident as an attack on Naga identity and turning a specific border-regulation issue into a wider “community-versus-security-force” narrative.
The statement further said the NSF delegation had travelled from Kohima and therefore could not claim automatic entitlement to cross the border on the basis of its proposed cultural-exchange programme or reference letters.
“A reference letter or recommendation from a civil organisation is not a valid document that constitutes permission to cross an international boundary,” it said.
The Assam Rifles urged media organisations to verify information and seek clarification from authorities when reporting on sensitive issues involving border crossings.
(With IANS/PTI inputs)