Nagaland all-party delegation to meet Shah over Free Movement Regime with Myanmar

Kohima, Mar 7 (PTI) The Nagaland Assembly on Friday decided that an all-party delegation would meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah to apprise him about the "resentment of the Naga people" against the Centre’s decision to scrap the Free Movement Regime (FMR) with neighbouring Myanmar.

The central government in January last year announced that the FMR, which allows people residing close to the India-Myanmar border to venture 16 kilometres into each other’s territory without visa, would end soon.

Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio said in the assembly that the restriction would impact the age-old historical, social, cultural, tribal and economic ties of Nagas living on both sides of the India-Myanmar border.

Rio proposed that he would lead an all-party delegation to meet the Union home minister at the earliest opportunity to raise the issue before him and other members of the House accepted the suggestion.

The delegation would apprise the Centre about the concerns of the House expressed through resolutions passed on March 1, 2024, and the Cabinet decisions of February 8, 2024, and January 6, 2025.

The 1,643-km-long India-Myanmar border, which passes through Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh, currently has FMR. It was implemented in 2018 as part of India’s Act East policy.

The CM informed the House that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on December 24 last year issued instructions allowing the cross-border movement of people who live within 10 km on each side of the India-Myanmar boundary.

It also directed the state government to deploy at least two police personnel and two health officials at each of the entry/exit points at the company operating bases (COBs) of the Assam Rifles for smooth implementation of the measure, he said.

According to the instruction, the movement of people has been limited to 43 designated crossing points and will be granted to only those who hold Border Passes issued by the Assam Rifles. Of these 43 designated points, nine are located in Nagaland.

The MHA has also requested the Nagaland authorities to check Myanmar nationals for their Border Passes and take appropriate action on overstay or any other unauthorised activity by them, Rio said.

“It will also impede the close familial ties that exist between the communities who live along the border where at times people will have to cross the India-Myanmar border for farming. Moreover, there is movement of people across the border to avail of healthcare and education facilities. Hence, on humanitarian considerations, these restrictions need to be re-looked upon,” he said.

Maintaining that the state government has highlighted the issues to the Centre on numerous occasions, the CM said that the state Cabinet deliberated on the proposal of MHA for fencing the international border and decided to request the central government to continue with the FMR and enact appropriate regulations.

The CM said that the chief secretary wrote a letter to the Union Home Secretary in this regard on January 22. PTI NBS NN

Source: PTI