India to Fence Myanmar Border and End Free Movement Regime

The decision comes amid an influx of Myanmar soldiers fleeing ethnic clashes, with nearly 600 crossing into India in the last three months.

India's Home Minister, Amit Shah, has announced that the country will fence its border with Myanmar and end the Free Movement Regime (FMR) that currently allows people from both nations to visit either side up to 16 km without travel documents.
The decision comes amid a surge of Myanmar soldiers fleeing into India to escape ethnic clashes, with nearly 600 crossing into India in the last three months.
The FMR was established in the 1970s to allow tribes with familial and ethnic ties on both sides of the border to maintain contact.
The Manipur government has been pushing for the removal of the FMR, alleging that insurgents from Myanmar, illegal immigrants, and drug traffickers have been misusing it.
Mizoram, a neighboring state to Manipur, has expressed opposition to the fencing of the border and the scrapping of the FMR, arguing that the border was demarcated by the British and is therefore unacceptable for people of the same ethnic groups on both sides.