Arunachal CM Pema Khandu hails Centre’s move to fence Indo-Myanmar border

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu has 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 Indo-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 km into each other’s territory without any document.

The 1,643-km-long 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.

“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 in X. A state-of-the-art surveillance 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-kilometer-long Indo-Myanmar border. To facilitate better surveillance, a patrol track along the border will also be paved,” Shah had posted in 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 (HSS) are under execution. 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, the union home minister added.

The porous border gives easy access to NE insurgent groups staying in Myanmar, to carry out unsocial activities in the three eastern districts of the state – Tirap, Changlang and Longding. There have been numerous reports of kidnapping and killing of civilians by Naga insurgent groups, who fled to the neighbouring country after committing crimes.

“The fencing along the Indo-Myanmar border will boost our national security and will reduce the negative issues pertaining to cross-border illegal movement,” Changlang deputy commissioner Sunny Kumar Singh said.

Also read; Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu visits Ayodhya with his colleagues

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