ITANAGAR, 8 Feb: Chief Minister Pema Khandu hailed the decision of the Centre to fence the entire 1,643-km-long India-Myanmar border, saying that the move will check the movement of unscrupulous elements from across the border.
Home Minister Amit Shah had on Tuesday announced the decision to fence the India-Myanmar border, which could virtually put an end to the free movement regime (FMR) prevalent along the porous border.
The FMR allows people residing close to the India-Myanmar border to venture 16 kms into each other’s territory without any document.
The 1,643-km-long India-Myanmar border, which passes through Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal, currently has FMR. It was introduced in 2018 as part of India’s Act East policy.
Arunachal shares a 520-km border with Myanmar.
“A great move in the right direction to make our borders foolproof. Gratitude to Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji and Hon’ble Home Minister Shri @AmitShah ji to fence our borders along Myanmar,” Khandu posted on X.
A state-of-the-art surveillance system will check the movement of unscrupulous elements, Khandu said in another social media post.
“The Modi government is committed to building impenetrable borders. It has decided to construct a fence along the entire 1643-km-long Indo-Myanmar border. To facilitate better surveillance, a patrol track along the border will also be paved,” Shah had posted on X on Tuesday.
Out of the total border length, a 10-km stretch in Moreh (Manipur) has already been fenced. Furthermore, two pilot projects of fencing through a hybrid surveillance system are under execution. They will fence a stretch of 1 km each in Arunachal and Manipur. Additionally, fence works covering approx 20 kms in Manipur have also been approved, and the work will start soon, the union home minister added.
The porous border gives easy access to NE insurgent groups staying in Myanmar to carry out antisocial activities in Tirap, Changlang and Longding districts.
There have been numerous reports of kidnapping and killing of civilians by insurgent groups, who fled to the neighbouring country after committing crimes.
Border trade between India and Myanmar, which existed along Pangsau Pass in Changlang district, came to a grinding halt after the outbreak of the Covid pandemic in 2020.
The governments of the two countries had on 26 September, 1950, signed an agreement, according to which the indigenous hill tribes of both sides living within 40 kms of the border were exempted from the requirement of a passport for trade purposes.
A MoU was signed in 2012 between India and Myanmar for the establishment of border haats along the international border at Pangsau Pass to facilitate trade. Accordingly, both countries established border haats for trading purposes.
Sixty-two commodities, including food items, vegetables, utensils, cosmetics, 100 cc motorbikes and cement, were allowed for trade by both the countries with tax exemption, Nampong (Changlang)-based Trade Development Officer Tangli Mossang said.
The state administration and the government of Myanmar, through a mutual understanding, had allowed border trade on the 10th, 20th and 30th of every month at Pangsau Pass and every Friday at Nampong, local MLA Laisam Simai said.
The border trade has been suspended after the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020 and since then, it has not been resumed, Changlang DC Sunny K Singh said.
“The fencing along the Indo-Myanmar border will boost our national security and will reduce the negative issues pertaining to cross-border illegal movement,” Singh added. (PTI)
