The story so far: The Mizoram Assembly on February 28 and the Nagaland Assembly on March 1 adopted a resolution to oppose the Centre’s decision to fence the 1,643 km long porous India-Myanmar border and scrap the Free Movement Regime (FMR) agreement that allows cross-border movement up to 16 km without travel documents.
What led to the resolutions?
At an official event in Guwahati on January 20, Home Minister Amit Shah said the Centre has decided to fence the India-Myanmar border and scrap the FMR implemented in 2018 as part of India’s Act East policy for cultural, business, and terrestrial connectivity to Southeast Asia and beyond. The Centre decided to suspend the FMR ostensibly to thwart illegal migration of people, the smuggling of drugs, arms and ammunition, and the cross-border movement of extremists. The decision was influenced by the Manipur government’s push — after the ethnic violence between the Meiteis and the Kuki-Zo people began on May 3, 2023 — for fencing the border to stop Myanmar nationals from settling in the State illegally. Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur welcomed the Centre’s decision but Mizoram and Nagaland, the other two States bordering Myanmar, opposed it because of the ethnic composition along the border “imposed by the British rulers” and their age-old social, cultural, and trade links.
