Government scraps free movement between India, Myanmar to ensure internal security
Amit Shah has announced the suspension of free movement between India and Myanmar to bolster internal security and maintain the demographic structure of the north eastern states bordering Myanmar.
Security forces at the India-Myanmar border (Credits: PTI)
The government has scrapped free movement between India and Myanmar to ensure internal security, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced on Thursday.
In an X post, the Home Minister wrote, "It is Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji's resolve to secure our borders." (sic).
"The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has decided that the Free Movement Regime (FMR) between India and Myanmar be scrapped to ensure the internal security of the country and to maintain the demographic structure of India’s North Eastern States bordering Myanmar," Amit Shah wrote.
advertisement
"Since the Ministry of External Affairs is currently in the process of scrapping it, MHA has recommended the immediate suspension of the FMR," Shah tweeted.
On Tuesday, Amit Shah announced plans to fence the entire 1,643-kilometre stretch of its border with Myanmar, signalling a potential end to the Free Movement Regime (FMR) that allowed border residents to travel 16 kilometres into each other's territory without formal documentation.
Myanmar has been witnessing widespread violent protests demanding the restoration of democracy since the military seized power in the coup on February 1, 2021.
Rakhine state and many other regions have reported severe fighting between armed ethnic groups and the Myanmarese military since October last year.
The hostilities between the two sides have seen a rapid spike since November in several key Myanmarese towns and regions near the border with India as well, fuelling concerns in New Delhi over the possible ramifications for the security of Manipur and Mizoram.