Union Home Minister Amit Shah declared on Saturday that the India-Myanmar border would be fenced, similar to the Indo-Bangladesh border. He also revealed plans to abolish the existing Free Movement Regime (FMR) between India and Myanmar.
Shah, who was on a three-day tour to Meghalaya and Assam, said this while addressing the passing out parade of the first batch of the five newly-constituted Assam Police Commando battalions in Guwahati on Saturday.
Shah disclosed that the fencing initiative would commence shortly, leading to the restriction of free movement for individuals along the Indo-Myanmar border. The announcement was made during his participation in five events in Assam on the concluding day of his visit.
Speaking at the passing out parade 2,551 Assam Police commandos, he stated, “The government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to fence the entire India-Myanmar border like it has been done along the border with Bangladesh.”
India shares a 1643-km long border with Myanmar across four northeastern states – Mizoram, Nagaland, Manipur, and Arunachal Pradesh. The Free Movement Regime (FMR), established in 2018 under India’s Act East Policy, permitted residents in border areas to travel up to 16 km inside each other’s territory without the need for a visa.
Shah asserted, “Our government is reexamining the Free Movement Regime (FMR) provision that exists with Myanmar, and now this facility, which allows free movement, will be stopped.”
The decision to end the FMR, a significant component of India’s diplomatic approach towards the East, has raised concerns, particularly in states like Manipur, Nagaland and Mizoram. In September of the previous year, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh had urged the Union government to halt the FMR along the Indo-Myanmar border, citing concerns about “illegal immigration.”
The move follows the double-fencing of much of India’s 4,096 km border with Bangladesh, aimed at curbing unauthorized entries into India. While Manipur advocates the fencing of the Myanmar border to counter alleged illegal immigration, Mizoram and Nagaland oppose the initiative, citing shared ethnic communities on either side of the international border.
Manipur: UNC urges Center to reinstate FMR
The apex Naga body in Manipur, the United Naga Council (UNC) has urged Union home minister, Amit Shah to reinstate the Free Movement Regime (FMR) at Tusom-Somrah Sector along the Indo Myanmar border in Ukhrul district of Manipur and other impacted Naga areas vis-à-vis halting the approved proposal for construction of Indo-Myanmar border fencing/wall along the borders in Naga areas.
The FMR permits the tribes residing along the border to travel 16 km on either side of the unfenced boundary without visa restrictions for 72 hours.
According to reports, the construction of border fencing works in the 398 km stretch of Manipur-Myanmar sector is undergoing at present of which around 20 km has already been completed.
The UNC in a memorandum submitted to the Union Home Minister today through the Deputy Commissioner of Senapati district of Manipur, said the Indo-Myanmar borders were delimited and demarcated by two bilateral Agreements between India and Myanmar on 10 March 1967, dividing many ethnic tribal communities along the artificial/imaginary line drawn without the informed consent of the villagers and thus relegated to the status of ethnic minorities on both sides of the borders.
The UNC further said the Tangkhul Naga, Anal Naga, Moyon Naga and Lamkang Naga who are scattered in few districts of Manipur state have a sizable Naga population in Myanmar’s Sagaing region.
Notably, the Manipur government has recently urged the center for border fencing with Myanmar and the cancellation of FMR against the backdrop of the prevailing crisis in the state.