Security measures taken up on India-Myanmar border

11 December 2017
Security measures taken up on India-Myanmar border
Indian security personnel keep watch along the Indo-Myanmar border fencing in Moreh in the Tengnoupal district of Manipur state, India, 10 March 2017. Photo: EPA

Necessary security measures has been taken up at all the border areas of the Indian state of Manipur (including the Manipur sector of the Indo-Myanmar International border) to check entry of illegal migrants and thwart unlawful activities in the wake of Rohingya crisis in Myanmar’s Rakhine state and the National Register of Citizens process in Assam, according to Manipur Chief Minister Nongthombam Biren Singh.
Assam is the biggest Indian state in its North Eastern region which shares a more than 1,600 km long border with Myanmar.
Chief Minister N Biren who replaced the longest Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh of Manipur since March this year, was speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a monthly meeting of leaders in Imphal from the hill areas this tiny border state on December 10. It is believed that the step has been taken following a joint meeting of Chief Ministers of some Indian states with the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Kolkata few days back.
Informing that a police station would be opened at Behiang area in Manipur’s Churachandpur district bordering Myanmar at the earliest, he said that he is planning to visit the interior village (also located along Indo-Myanmar border) in the said district to lay the foundation stone of the police station soon after the finalisation of other processes.
The state government is planning to deploy Indian Reserve Battalion personnel at Kwatha, another interior village in Chandel district bordering Myanmar, he added. Apart from opening an additional police post, around 60 armed police personnel had been sent to Jiribam district headquarters, about 225 kms away from its state capital Imphal, bordering Assam’s Cachar district, to meet the required security manpower.
Stating that police stationed at Jiribam had been strengthened and directed to remain alert as illegal migrants trespass into the State’s territory by crossing the temporary bamboo bridges built over Jiri river, he said that his government is considering the proposal for construction of a ‘welcome gate’ and opening of a police check post at Jessami village in Ukhrul district also bordering Myanmar.
Responding to a question on the inconvenience faced by the people due to checking and frisking for long hours at Khudengthabi post along the 110km Imphal-Moreh highway which connects Myanmar towns with Indian towns through the land route in Manipur, he said that all these problems would ease once a vehicle scanning machine, which had already been procured, is installed at the check point.
On the demand for implementation of an Inner Line Permit (ILP) or a similar system in Manipur state to protect the interests of its indigenous population, he said a Consultative Committee comprising representatives of all the communities residing in Manipur, which is inhabited by more than 30 ethnic communities, and a Drafting Committee would be constituted soon. For this a notice to invite imminent persons to join the said two committees would be issued through the media within a few days, he added. ILP is a special pass that is required to enter the Indian states namely Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram, all located along Indo-Myanmar border.