India foiled China's plans, shield to be installed on Myanmar border notorious for smuggling

Continuous smuggling of weapons and drugs from the Myanmar border has prompted the Indian government to get barbed fencing done on the entire border. The central government is going to spend Rs 31,000 crore to install fencing on the 1,643 km-long India-Myanmar border. This border is considered notorious for smuggling of weapons, ammunition, and drugs.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday said that fencing work in a 30 km area on the border has been completed. Sources said the Cabinet Committee on Security has in principle approved the construction of border fencing and roads along the 1,643-km-long international border between India and Myanmar at a cost of about Rs 31,000 crore. The move will curb the smuggling of illegal arms and drugs coming from China.

About 10kms of fencing are completed near Moreh and fencing is in progress on 21km of the border in other areas of Manipur.

The India-Myanmar border traverses the Indian states of Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh. The central government has already scrapped the India-Myanmar FMR due to the unrelenting instability in the neighboring country. This permitted people residing within a radius of the border to cross into each other's territory up to 16 km without any documents. Inaugurated in 2018, it was part of India's Act East policy.

According to Amar Ujala, Home Minister Amit Shah is constantly holding review meetings regarding the situation in Manipur and is also giving instructions to take necessary steps. Two battalions of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) have already been deployed in Manipur. Apart from this, about 200 companies of central police forces have been deployed in the disturbed states.

The Manipur government has begun selling essential commodities to the general public at reasonable prices with 25 mobile vans as shops. Sources said that these shops are running in all the districts of Manipur. He stated that as a new initiative, Central Police Welfare Stores have been opened from Tuesday onwards to sell essential commodities to the people of Manipur at reasonable prices.

Besides the existing 21 police canteens, 16 new shops are being opened. Of the 16 new police canteens, eight would be opened in the valley districts and the remaining eight in the hill areas. Ethnic violence broke out in Manipur on May 3 last year when a tribal solidarity march was taken out in hill districts of the state by the majority Meitei community demanding Scheduled Tribe status. More than 220 people from both Kuki and Meitei communities besides security personnel have been killed since then in the ongoing violence.