India plans to fence off Myanmar frontier

World

NEW DELHI: India plans to erect a fence along its vast and porous frontier with Myanmar and will scrap a free movement border zone agreement, In­dian media reported on Sun­day.

The announcement by Home Minister Amit Shah comes after hundreds of troops from Myanmar who were fleeing insurgent at­tacks crossed into India.

The government had “decided to fence the entire open In­dia-Myanmar border”, Shah said on Saturday during a vis­it to the northeastern state of Assam.

The frontier stretch­es for more than 1,200 kilo­metres, ranging from remote jungle to soaring snow-capped Himalayan peaks.

Shah, who gave no details of a timeframe or how the fence would be built, said the gov­ernment would also end a free movement agreement.

The deal allows those living in border zones to venture a short distance into each oth­er’s territory without a visa.__The Nation