India To Fence Entire 1,643 Km Border With Myanmar: Amit Shah (image@ BJP4Manipur)
India will fence the entire 1,643 km long border with Myanmar and build a patrolling track next to the fence, said Home Minister Amit Shah on his X (formerly twitter) post. The announcement comes amidst the ethnic violence in Manipur between the Kuki-Zo community, who have ties with communities in Myanmar’s Chin State, and Meiteis.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “the Modi government is committed to building impenetrable borders. It has decided to construct a fence along the entire 1,643-kilometre-long Indo-Myanmar border. To facilitate better surveillance, a patrol track along the border will also be paved”.
Amit Shah said “Manipur has already been fenced”. Out of the total border length, a 10 kilo meter has been stretched in Moreh of Manipur, said the Home Minister. He further said that, “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 approximately 20 km in Manipur have also been approved, and the work will start soon”.
The 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.
Out of the total border length,…— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) February 6, 2024
Earlier, on February 3, after meeting Amit Shah, Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh said that the centre “is set to take some important decisions in the interests of the people of Manipur”.
THE Meiteis attributed one of reasons for the clashes with Kuki-Zo tribe as the alleged unchecked entry of illegal immigrants from Myanmar by using the free-movement regime (FMR) over a decade. The Kuki-Zo tribe refute the allegations and point fingers at the Chief Minister, who is from BJP, for inciting fear of demographic invasion among the Meiteis to draw their political support.
The FMR in its current forms support entry without visa and passport. It began as a system after independence to allow tribes who share familial, social and ethnic ties with both sides of the border to keep in touch with their loved ones. The central government is reportedly considering to end the FMR. The move was objected by Nagaland and Mizoram as kindred live across the border.
Talking to NDTV, Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, the Minister of State for External Affairs, backed the Central government’s plan to fence the India-Myanmar country. He said while the western sector and border with Bangladesh are well-guarded, “On the Myanmar border, there has been a general view for a long time that the areas have been thriving with people from many communities with little problem”. He further added that situation has come that boundary fencing is a must, and said that “border fencing should be done before working on border management. Both are separate matters”.
