India to invest Rs 370 crore for fencing border with Myanmar: Report

GUWAHATI: India is set to allocate approximately Rs 370 crore for the construction of a fence along its 1610-km (1000-mile) porous border with Myanmar over the next decade, a Reuters report stated.

The primary objective of this initiative is to curb smuggling and other illicit activities.

Earlier this year, the Indian government announced its intention to erect a barrier along the border and terminate the long-standing visa-free movement agreement with Myanmar, especially relevant given the political instability caused by the coup.

This decision was made in the interest of national security and to preserve the demographic composition of the Northeast region of India.

Myanmar, thus far, has refrained from offering any official remarks regarding India's proposed fencing initiative.

Since the military coup in Myanmar in 2021, a substantial number of civilians and troops have sought refuge in Indian states, where there exist strong ethnic and familial bonds between the populations on both sides of the border.

This influx has raised concerns in New Delhi due to the potential for communal tensions to spill over into India's territory.

Furthermore, certain government officials have attributed the porous border to exacerbating the delicate situation in Manipur, which shares a border with Myanmar.

For nearly a year, Manipur has been grappling with violence between two ethnic groups, one of which shares ancestral ties with Myanmar's Chin tribe.

According to the source, a committee comprising senior Indian officials has also endorsed plans to construct parallel roads alongside the fence and develop 1700 km (1050 miles) of feeder roads linking military installations to the border.

The estimated cost for the fence and accompanying road infrastructure is approximately 125 million rupees per kilometre.

This figure surpasses the 55 million per kilometre cost incurred for erecting the border fence with Bangladesh in 2020.

The higher expenses are attributed to the challenging mountainous terrain and the incorporation of advanced technology to deter intrusion and prevent corrosion.