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Subhashis Mittra

India has decided to fence the entire 1,643-kilometre-long India-Myanmar border, complete with a patrolling track alongside, bringing the curtain down on the Free Movement Regime (FMR) that allows people residing close to the porous international boundary to venture 16 kilometres into each other's territory without any documents, and stay up to two weeks.

The India-Myanmar border, which passes through Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, currently has FMR. It was introduced in 2018 as part of India’s Act East policy—an effort to boost the region’s economy by increasing India’s trade with ASEAN and other Southeast Asian nations.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah with Assam Chief Minister Hemata Biswa Sharma

Fencing along the border has been a persistent demand of the Imphal Valley-based Meitei groups which have been alleging that tribal militants often sneak into India through the border. The Meitei groups also allege that narcotics are being smuggled into India, taking advantage of the unfenced international border.

Union home minister Amit Shah recently announced that the Narendra Modi government is committed to building impenetrable borders. “It has decided to construct a fence along the entire 1,643-km long Indo-Myanmar border. To facilitate better surveillance, a patrol track along the border will also be paved,” he said on microblogging site X.

The home minister said a 10-kilometre stretch of the border in Moreh in Manipur has already been fenced. Besides, two pilot projects of fencing through a hybrid surveillance system are under execution. “They will fence a stretch of 1 kilometre each in Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. Additionally, fence works covering approximately 20 kilometres in Manipur have also been approved, and the work will start soon,” he said.

The Centre has also decided to scrap the India-Myanmar FMR to maintain the country’s internal security and demographic structure of the northeastern states. The ministry of external affairs is currently in the process of scrapping it, even as the ministry of home affairs (MHA) has recommen