Amit Shah Announces Construction Of Fence Along Entire Border With Myanmar After Signaling End To Free Movement Regime

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday (6 February) reiterated the Narendra Modi government's commitment to building impenetrable borders and announced the construction of a fence along the entire 1643-kilometer-long Indo-Myanmar border.

This comes after Shah had signaled the impending end of the Free Movement Regime (FMR), which currently allows residents near the India-Myanmar border to travel 16 km into each other's territory without a visa.

"To facilitate better surveillance, a patrol track along the border will also be paved. Out of the total border length, a 10 km stretch in Moreh, Manipur, has already been fenced," Shah said in a post on X as the border town of Moreh has been disturbed lately.

"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," Shah added after earlier pledging to have a border arrangement similar to that with Bangladesh.

"Additionally, fence works covering approximately 20 km in Manipur have also been approved, and the work will start soon," the Union Home Minister concluded.

In December 2023, India raised its security concerns with Myanmar, especially the challenges along the border, including the influx of Myanmarese refugees in the country.