India to build £3 billion fence on Myanmar border

India's Home Minister Amit Shah says his government has decided to abandon the free movement regime along the Myanmar border and move to ' ensure the internal security of the country' Photo: HARISH TYAGI/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

India plans to build a £2.9 billion fence along the border with Myanmar to crack down on smuggling and prevent refugees fleeing civil war from crossing into Myanmar.

A government committee earlier this month approved the move. The cost of the fencing must be approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet, Reuters reports.

Amit Shah, India's home minister, said last month that his government had decided to end free movement along the border with Myanmar to «ensure the internal security of the country and preserve the demographic structure of India's northeastern states.»

Mr. Shah, a close aide of Mr. Modi, recommended an immediate suspension of the regime, which since 2018 has allowed residents of both countries along the border to travel up to 10 miles into each other's territory without a visa.

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The border fence plan comes amid worsening civil conflict in Myanmar, as well as ethnic violence in India's Manipur, where 219 people have been killed since May last year.

Myanmar is currently ruled by the military. junta that overthrew the democratically elected government in February 2021, plunging the country into instability and violence. The coup led to an armed uprising against the military rulers.

Min Aung Hlaing, head of Myanmar's ruling military council, arrived for the country's Armed Forces Day ceremony in Naypyitaw on Wednesday. Photo: AFP via Getty Images Parade of junta soldiers on Armed Forces Day Photo: AFP via Getty Images

Last year, three ethnic armed The groups formed a successful alliance against the military junta, which led to the latter losing control of vast areas, including along the border with China and India.

Since the coup, about two million people have been forced to flee their homes by fighting, according to the UN. Thousands of civilians and hundreds of Myanmar troops have fled to Indian states, where communities between the two countries share ethnic and family ties.

The head of Myanmar's ruling military council marked Armed Forces Day with a speech on Wednesday. alleging that the country's youth have been tricked into supporting the resistance to army rule and that ethnic armed groups associated with the resistance are involved in drug trafficking, natural resource smuggling and illegal gambling.

On March 1, the northeastern state of Nagaland passed a resolution , calling on the Modi government to reconsider its decision to fence the Indo-Myanmar border and end the free movement regime, calling on the government to develop rules for the movement of people across the border.

However, a few days later, the neighboring state of Manipur began deporting refugees from Myanmar who found refuge there after the 2021 military coup.