Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday announced that the Centre has finally decided to fence the entire 1,643-km-long India-Myanmar border.
According to Shah, a 10-km stretch of the border in Moreh in Manipur has already been fenced while two other pilot projects of fencing through a hybrid surveillance system are under execution.
What did Amit Shah say?
Taking it to the microblogging site X (formerly Twitter), Shah said, the Narendra Modi government is committed to building impenetrable 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," he said.
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"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," he said.
About the Free Movement Regime (FMR)
The Free Movement Regime (FMR) permits people residing close to the India-Myanmar border to venture 16 km into each other's territory without any documents. However, the decision of fencing the entire border with Myanmar will practically put an end to the Free Movement Regime (FMR).
Currently, the FMR is valid across the 1,643-km-long India-Myanmar border, which passes through Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.
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FMR was implemented in 2018 as part of India's Act East policy
Meitei community demands border
The members of the Meitei community have been persistently demanding the fencing along the border as, according to them, tribal militants often enter into India through the porous border.
Moreover, they also allege that narcotics are being smuggled into India taking advantage of the unfenced international border.
