Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Saturday that the central government will end the free movement of people at the India-Myanmar border. He stated that the border will be protected by barbed fencing so that it can be protected like the country's boundary with Bangladesh. The Home Minister made the announcement while addressing the passing out parade of the first batch of the five newly constituted Assam Police Commando battalions in Guwahati.
"The Narendra Modi government has decided that the India-Myanmar border, which is open, will be protected by barbed fencing. The entire border will have barbed fencing like what we have at the India-Bangladesh border," Shah said, as quoted by news agency PTI. "The Indian government is rethinking the free movement agreement with Myanmar. Now, the Government of India is going to stop this facility," he added.
According to PTI, the Free Movement Regime allows people on both sides of the border to travel 16 km into each other's territory without a visa. Four Indian states—Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, and Mizoram—share a 1,643-km-long border with Myanmar. Earlier, officials stated that the Centre was planning to fence a 300-km stretch of the border.
After the military coup in Myanmar in February 2021, more than 31,000 people from the neighbouring country, mostly from the Chin state, have taken refuge in Mizoram, and many also took shelter in Manipur, PTI reported.
Shah congratulated the 2,551 commandos who were inducted into the force at the function and said that the Assam Police has faced challenges such as riots during the Partition, refugee problem, infiltration, the Bangladesh Liberation War, insurgency, and drug menace. "However, the Assam Police has a rich history of fighting these challenges and winning," he said, as quoted by PTI.