Smart fence along Myanmar border in the pipeline: govt

Subject: Geography

Section: Places in news

Context:

An advanced smart fencing system of 100 km along the Myanmar border is in the pipeline to strengthen the existing surveillance system, the 2022-23 annual report of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said.

Details of the report:

India shares a 1,643 km border with Myanmar.
Out of 1,643 km, a demarcation of 1,472 km has been completed.
The United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) and International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) warned that the region could become a significant transit point for illicit drugs.
Unfenced border and unregulated migration from Myanmar have been attributed as some of the factors responsible for the ethnic violence in Manipur.
In 2022, out of the 201 insurgency-related incidents registered in all the northeast States, as many as 137 incidents were registered in Manipur.
Manipur is affected by the activities of Meitei, Naga, Kuki, Zomi, Hmar insurgent groups. A total of 23 UG [underground] outfits under two conglomerates [United Peoples’ Front [UPF] -8 and Kuki National Organisation [KNO] -15] are under Suspension of Operation [SoO] pact with the Government of India since August 2008.

Free Movement Regime (FMR) with Myanmar:

A Free Movement Regime (FMR) exists between India and Myanmar.
Under the FMR, every member of the hill tribes, who is either a citizen of India or a citizen of Myanmar and who is resident of any area within 16 km on either side of the Indo-Myanmar border can cross the border on production of a border pass (one year validity) issued by the competent authority and can stay up to two weeks per visit.
The FMR was implemented in 2018 as part of the government’s Act East policy at a time when diplomatic relations between India and Mvanmar were on the upswing.
The Manipur government has suspended the FMR since 2020, post COVID-19 pandemic.

India-Myanmar border:

The India–Myanmar border is the international border between India and Myanmar (formerly Burma). The border is 1,643 kilometres (1,021 mi) in length and runs from the tripoint with China in the north to the tripoint with Bangladesh in the south.
The precise location of the tripoint with China is unclear owing to the Sino-Indian border dispute – at present, the de facto tripoint is located just north of the Diphu Pass. From here the border proceeds to the south-west through the Mishmi Hills, except for an Indian protrusion at the Chaukan Pass, then continuing through the Patkai and Kassom Ranges. At the south-east corner of Manipur it turns sharply westwards along various rivers for a period over to the Tiau River. It then follows this river southwards for a long stretch down to the Chin Hills, before turning west and proceeding to the Bangladeshi tripoint via a series of irregular lines.
Myanmar borders the Indian states of: Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, and Mizoram.

Source: TH