Guwahati/New Delhi:

The Centre has tightened the rules for movement of people from either side of the border in India and Myanmar, sources said.

The new rules further restrict movements of people from 16 km under the free movement regime (FMR) to 10 km now, on either side.

The FMR, which in its current form enables entry without visas and passports, began as a formal system in the 1950s to allow tribes who share familial, social and ethnic ties on both sides of the border to keep in touch with their people, though it was not known by that acronym officially till decades later.

While the Centre has announced it would scrap the FMR, no official notification in this regard was ever made, sources said.

For Manipur, the Centre has asked the state to send two police personnel and two health officials to designated entry and exit points at the outposts of the Assam Rifles, the border-guarding and counter-insurgency force that operates under the Indian Army in Manipur.

A total of 43 designated crossing points will be set up for holders of “border pass” issued by an authorised representative of the Assam Rifles, according to a letter sent by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to the Manipur government. NDTV has seen the letter.

Only those living in the “border area” – defined as within 10 km on either side – are eligible to apply for the “border pass” for a stay of up to seven days; the pass-holder has to return it at the same crossing point where it was issued.

Those living in villages beyond the “border areas” (the 10-km zone) and citizens of any third nation cannot be issued the border pass.

The border pass will be issued to only one adult, and minors (below 18 years old) have to be accompanied by parents. The details of a maximum number of three children can be captured in a single border pass belonging to either parent.

The biometric details of Myanmar nationals crossing over to India using border passes will be captured by Assam Rifles’ representatives during entry and exit, the new rules say.

Police representatives will go to the places, where the Myanmar nationals have mentioned as their address of visit in India, to verify them. Any border pass holder found going beyond the 10-km zone or staying for more than seven days will be punished under India’s laws, the rules say.

In pilot mode, eight entry and exit points will be opened as soon as the two police and two health personnel are made available, and when the software to capture details of border pass holders is stabilised, the MHA said in the letter.

Apart from the pilot, the entry and exit points will be set up in two phases – 14 in the first phase after installing biometric machines, and 21 in the second phase after setting up more infrastructure.

The proof of identity can be issued by the station house officer of the local police station or an equivalent rank in Myanmar’s case, and a local village chief or a village authority stating the applicant belongs to the village falling within the 10-km “border area” on either side. The proof of identity document is valid for one year.

Manipur has been asking the Centre to scrap the FMR and fence the porous Indo-Myanmar border, while its neighbours Mizoram and Nagaland have opposed both proposals, citing ties with kindred tribes across the border.

Manipur’s valley-dominant Meitei community and over a dozen distinct tribes collectively known as Kuki, who are dominant in some hill areas of the state and who share ethnic ties with people in Myanmar’s Chin State, have been fighting since May 2023 over a range of issues such as land rights, political representation, drugs trafficking, and illegal immigration.

Indian and Myanmarese nationals were allowed to visit each other’s territories up to 40 km without visas or passports after an agreement of sorts between the two neighbours in the 1950s. In 1968, India tightened the FMR with a new permit system. The rise of insurgency in Manipur, Mizoram, and Nagaland then sparked concerns over the FMR on the Indian side.

In 2004, India limited the FMR distance to 16 km from 40 km. In addition, instead of allowing people to cross from multiple points, only three places were allowed to be used as crossing points – Pangsau in Arunachal Pradesh, Moreh in Manipur, and Zokhawthar in Mizoram.

In 2018, India and Myanmar signed the Agreement on Land Border Crossing, which added more regulations and harmonised the existing FMR.

Manipur shares 400 km of the 1,640 km-long India-Myanmar border. Fencing on the mostly porous border has started. It is expected to take a couple of years to fence the entire length of the border completely.

New Delhi:

The entire 1,643 km porous India-Myanmar border, known for the smuggling of arms, ammunition and narcotics, will be fenced at a cost of Rs 31,000 crore, sources said on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said fencing work had been completed in 30 km of the border, which he termed the root cause of the ethnic violence in Manipur.

The Cabinet Committee on Security has, in principle, approved the construction of border fencing and roads along the 1,643-km international border between India and Myanmar at an approximate cost of Rs 31,000 crore, sources said.

About 10 km of fencing has already been completed near Moreh and work is underway to fence another 21 km of the border in other areas of Manipur.

The India-Myanmar border passes through Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.

The Central government has already scrapped the the India-Myanmar Free Movement Regime (FMR), which allows people residing close to the border to venture 16 km into each other’s territory without any documents. It was implemented in 2018 as part of India’s Act East policy.

Home Minister Shah has been regularly reviewing the security situation in Manipur and necessary actions are being ensured, the sources said.

Two battalions of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have already been deployed in Manipur. In addition, around 200 companies (about 100 personnel in one company) of central police forces were deployed in the restive states.

The Manipur government has started using 25 mobile vans as shops to provide essential commodities at fair prices to the general public. These shops on wheels are operating in all districts of Manipur, sources said.

As a new initiative, the Kendriya Police Kalyan Bhandars (KPKB, police canteens) have been opened from Tuesday to provide essential commodities to the people of Manipur at fair prices, they said.

In addition to the 21 existing such police canteens, 16 new stores are being opened. Of the 16 new police canteens, eight will be in the valley districts of Manipur, and the remaining eight in hilly areas.

Ethnic violence started in Manipur on May 3 last year after a tribal solidarity march in the hill districts of the state to protest against the majority Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe status.

Since then, over 220 people belonging to both the Kuki and Meitei communities and security personnel have been killed in the continuing violence.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)