After Amit Shah’s announcement, BRO will fence large parts of India-Myanmar border

Days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced fencing of India’s open borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh, the Border Roads Organization (BRO) has been tasked with fencing a large stretch of the strategic India-Myanmar border. Meanwhile, a distance of 10 km has already been covered in Manipur, PTI reported quoting a senior official.

BRO Additional Director General (East) PKH Singh said the Home Ministry has identified about 1,700 km of fencing that needs to be done.

Singh said the organization has already completed 10 km of fencing along the border at Moreh in Manipur, which has been handed over to the Assam Rifles.

Why is fencing being done on the India-Myanmar border?

The central government’s decision to erect fencing along the India-Myanmar border comes as hundreds of Myanmar soldiers are believed to have crossed the border as fighting between rebel forces and the junta-regime in Myanmar intensified over the past few months.

Myanmar troops are currently taking shelter in Mizoram’s Langtlai district after their camps were captured by Arakan Army (AA) militants – an ethnic armed group in the western Myanmar state of Rakhine.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday announced that India’s open borders with Myanmar and Bangladesh will be fenced.

“Our border with Myanmar is an open border. The Narendra Modi government has decided to guard the India-Myanmar border…and we will work towards fencing the entire border area (with Myanmar) like the border with Bangladesh,” Shah said.

(With inputs from PTI)