The military coup in Myanmar completed three years on Thursday, February 1. While much of the world’s attention today has shifted away from the atrocities the Tatmadaw there has been carrying out against its own people, India has taken the decision to fence the entire 1,643-km border that it shares with Myanmar along the north-eastern states, and also to do away with the free movement regime (FMR) to check influx of refugees from Myanmar into India. While the government had initially been engaging with the junta in Myanmar, New Delhi chose to eventually take a cautious approach with the country’s military regime even as it aligned its stance with that of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Earlier this week, the ASEAN foreign ministers issued a statement seeking peace in Myanmar and supporting a “Myanmar-owned and led solution” even as the calls for restoring democracy there have faded away. ASEAN’s new special envoy for Myanmar Alounkeo Kittikhoun, a Laotian diplomat, undertook a visit to capital Naypyidaw where he met Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the ruling military council. Months after the junta staged a coup on February 1, 2021, the ASEAN drew up a five-point consensus to deal with Myanmar. Among other directives, the plan called for an immediate cessation of violence, a dialogue among all concerned parties and a mediation mechanism by an ASEAN special envoy, among others.
While the military rulers of Myanmar had then said they will abide by the consensus, they have only violated its tenets since then even as the ASEAN also remains deeply divided over whether or not to support the junta. Within ASEAN, countries that are democracies have refused to deal with the junta leaders, even stopping them from attending the meetings concerning the regional grouping. Myanmar is a member of the ASEAN along with Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia, Brunei and the Philippines.
At the meeting of foreign ministers, held in Luang Prabang, Laos, on January 28-29, the ASEAN decided to reaffirm its commitment to “assisting Myanmar in finding a peaceful, comprehensive, and durable solution to the ongoing crisis, as Myanmar remains an integral part of ASEAN”. Interestingly, a representative from Myanmar was allowed to participate in the ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting because he has a non-political affiliation. However, Myanmar’s relationship with ASEAN remains fraught with challenges and as complicated as ever.
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On January 20, addressing the passing out parade of five commando battalions of Assam Police in Guwahati, Home Minister Amit Shah said the Narendra Modi government has decided the hitherto open India-Myanmar border will have barbed fencing similar to the India-Bangladesh boundary. He also said the government, which was reviewing the decades-old FMR since the coup took place, has now decided to scrap it altogether, thereby stopping the free movement of people on both sides of the border.
The India-Myanmar border passes through Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram. The decision to scrap decades-old FMR may not be prudent at this time unless the government settles the escalating tensions in Manipur where there are daily reports of death and violence are coming in. If the government scraps the FMR now, it will add fuel to the already simmering tensions there.
The FMR had been in place since the 1950s owing to family ties and links between both countries. This was a deliberate decision to let the FMR operate by keeping the border with Myanmar porous. In 1968, a certain permit system was brought into place owing to the rise of rebellious and insurgent groups there. In 2018, India and Myanmar signed an agreement on Land Border Crossing in order to “facilitate regulation and harmonization of already existing free movement rights for people ordinarily residing in the border areas of both countries". It was also to "facilitate movement of people on the basis of valid passports and visas which will enhance economic and social interaction between the two countries".
But such a policy stance gradually started to change when the coup took place and a large number of people from Myanmar started to enter India in an effort to save themselves from the violence that has been unleashed there by the junta, which the UN has labelled as a civil war. With violence intensifying there, the Manipur government has been after the centre to scrap the FMR altogether. The violence in Manipur that began in May 2023 has so far claimed 170 lives. The Manipur government has said “large numbers of illegal migrants”, which includes members of the Kuki tribe entering the state since the coup took place posing a threat to India’s security interests.
But scrapping the FMR altogether has the potential of upsetting a perfect balance that has existed in the northeast for decades since India gained independence from the British in 1947. The FMR has proved to be beneficial for the Meiteis too who are now at loggerheads with the Kukis, according to several security experts who spoke to me requesting not to be named. These experts also maintain that instead of FMR, the government should scrap the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) that has contributed to greater tensions there instead of bringing solutions. Mizoram and Nagaland have been sheltering the refugees and do not seem to support the government’s plans. That is also a region where China can play the ultimate game of disruption by fanning ethnic divisions there that can aggravate with the scrapping of FMR.
[Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs, and views expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this website are personal and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs, and views of ABP News Network Pvt Ltd.]
Myanmar Coup Completes 3 years. India’s NE Is In Mess, Fencing Border Won’t Help
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01.02.2024
The military coup in Myanmar completed three years on Thursday, February 1. While much of the world’s attention today has shifted away from the atrocities the Tatmadaw there has been carrying out against its own people, India has taken the decision to fence the entire 1,643-km border that it shares with Myanmar along the north-eastern states, and also to do away with the free movement regime (FMR) to check influx of refugees from Myanmar into India. While the government had initially been engaging with the junta in Myanmar, New Delhi chose to eventually take a cautious approach with the country’s military regime even as it aligned its stance with that of Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Earlier this week, the ASEAN foreign ministers issued a statement seeking peace in Myanmar and supporting a “Myanmar-owned and led solution” even as the calls for restoring democracy there have faded away. ASEAN’s new special envoy for Myanmar Alounkeo Kittikhoun, a Laotian diplomat, undertook a visit to capital Naypyidaw where he met Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the ruling military council. Months after the junta staged a coup on February 1, 2021, the ASEAN drew up a five-point consensus to deal with Myanmar. Among other directives, the plan called for an immediate cessation of violence, a dialogue among all concerned parties and a mediation mechanism by an ASEAN special envoy, among others.
While the military rulers of Myanmar had then said they will abide by........
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