Amit Shah's Update On India-Myanmar Border Fence: 10km Covered, Further Work For 20km Approved

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday announced India’s plan to build a fence along the Indo-Myanmar border to facilitate better surveillance just like it has barricaded the border along with Bangladesh

According to Shah, who posted about this major development on X, said that India will construct a fence along the entire 1643-kilometer-long Indo-Myanmar border. A patrol track along the border will also be paved for better surveillance.

“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,” Shah added.

The home minister also announced that the fencing work covering approx 20 km in Manipur has also been approved, and the work on the same will start soon.

Manipur shares around 390 km of border with Myanmar, but only about 10 km has been fenced so far. In July last year, the state government shared data that around 700 illegal immigrants entered the state.

Besides, Mizoram has seen an influx of anti-Junta rebels in thousands since the military coup in Myanmar on February 1, 2021. According to government estimates, several thousand refugees have been living in different parts of Mizoram since the coup.

Mizoram shares a 510-km-long border with Myanmar.

Shah announced the fencing plan around the Myanmar border last month adding that the Free Movement Regime (FMR), which allows people residing close to the India-Myanmar border to venture 16 km into each other’s territory without a visa, will end soon.

Meanwhile, in another major update, India on Tuesday asked its citizens to leave Rakhine in Myanmar immediately due to ongoing security concerns.

“In view of the deteriorating security situation, disruption of means of telecommunications, including landlines, and severe scarcity of essential commodities, all Indian citizens are advised not to travel to the Rakhine State of Myanmar,” the government stated in its advisory.