Union Home Minister Amit Shah declared on Thursday that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has decided to cancel the Free Movement Regime (FMR) between India and Myanmar to guarantee the country’s internal security.
Amit Shah also said the decision was taken to maintain the demographic structure of India’s northeastern states bordering Myanmar. “Since the Ministry of External Affairs is currently in the process of scrapping it, MHA has recommended the immediate suspension of the FMR,” Amit Shah wrote on social media X (formally Twitter).
Amit Shah made the announcement just days after stating that India has opted to fence the entire 1,643-kilometer-long India-Myanmar border, thereby terminating the Free Movement Regime (FMR) that existed along the porous border.
What is the Free Movement Regime (FMR)?
The Free Movement Regime, or FMR, permits persons living near the India-Myanmar border to cross 16 kilometers into each other’s country without a document.
The 1,643-kilometre-long India-Myanmar border, which runs through Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh, now has FMR. It was implemented in 2018 as part of India’s Act East policy.
Fencing along the border has been a longstanding demand of Imphal Valley-based Meitei tribes, who claim that tribal insurgents frequently enter India through the porous border.
Meiteis further claimed that drugs are being transported into India across the unfenced international border.
In a post on X, Amit Shah stated that the Narendra Modi government is determined to establishing impregnable borders.
“It has decided to construct a fence along the entire 1643-kilometer-long Indo-Myanmar border. To facilitate better surveillance, a patrol track along the border will also be paved,” the home minister had said.
Amit Shah said a 10-km stretch of the border in Moreh in Manipur has already been fenced.
Furthermore, two pilot projects of fencing through a hybrid surveillance system are under execution.
Manipur shares 390 km of border with Myanmar
Manipur shares around 390 km of border with Myanmar, but only about 10 km has been fenced so far. In July last year, the state government shared data that around 700 illegal immigrants entered the state.
Besides, Mizoram has seen an influx of anti-Junta rebels in thousands since the military coup in Myanmar on February 1, 2021. According to government estimates, several thousand refugees are living in different parts of Mizoram since the coup. Mizoram shares a 510-km-long border with Myanmar.
Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh had also said several persons from Myanmar tried to enter the state but returned on seeing the presence of a large number of security personnel.
On February 3, after meeting Amit Shah, Biren Singh had said the Centre was set to take “some important decisions” in the interests of the people of the state.
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Source: HT
