8-2-2024 (NEW DELHI) India’s Interior Minister, Amit Shah, announced on Thursday (Feb 8) that he has recommended the immediate suspension of a free movement border agreement with Myanmar. This decision comes as thousands of people have fled Myanmar due to the escalated fighting between the military junta and its opponents over the past year.
Shah stated that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is already in the process of scrapping the agreement, which allows residents of border zones to venture a short distance into Myanmar without requiring a visa. The border regions between India and Myanmar share close cultural and religious ties.
The primary reason cited by Shah for the suspension of the agreement is to ensure the internal security of the country and maintain the demographic structure of the regions bordering Myanmar. One of these regions is Manipur, a restive state where clashes between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community have resulted in over 200 casualties since May last year. Many of the individuals who have sought refuge in India from Myanmar belong to the ethnic Kuki community.
N Biren Singh, the Chief Minister of Manipur and a member of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), emphasized the significance of ending free movement to curb illegal immigration and strengthen internal security in a social media post on Thursday.
Areas near the Indian border with Myanmar have experienced frequent clashes since the Arakan Army (AA) fighters launched an attack on security forces in November, ending a ceasefire that had largely held since the military coup in 2021. As a result, hundreds of Myanmar soldiers and thousands of civilians have crossed into India.
The conflict in Myanmar has also spilled over into neighboring Bangladesh, where shells fired during clashes claimed the lives of at least two individuals on Monday.
Last month, Amit Shah announced India’s plans to construct a 1,643-kilometer fence along the porous border with Myanmar, which stretches from remote jungle areas to lofty snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas. Shah reaffirmed the Modi government’s commitment to building impenetrable borders, highlighting that a 10-kilometer stretch of the fence in Manipur has already been completed.
According to government statistics from 2021, India has already erected fences along more than 2,000 kilometers of its border with Pakistan and at least 3,100 kilometers with Bangladesh. The move to suspend the free movement agreement with Myanmar further reflects India’s focus on bolstering border security.
