What is the News ?

The Chief Minister of Manipur recently stated that his government has requested the Union Home Ministry to discontinue the free movement arrangement along the India-Myanmar border and finalize the border fencing.

Facts About:

• The Free Movement Regime (FMR) allows all hill tribes, whether they hold citizenship in India or Myanmar, to travel within a 16 km radius on either side of the Indo-Myanmar Border (IMB).
• To cross the border, they need to present a border pass with a one-year validity issued by the relevant authority.

                Each visit can last for up to two weeks.

• The FMR was put into effect in 2018 as part of the Central government's Act East policy.
• Both governments, India and Myanmar, implement the FMR for the benefit of the people residing along the IMB.
• This arrangement facilitates greater cultural integration among residents of trans-border villages.

                They engage in activities like weddings, joint celebrations of festivals, and cross-border trade.

• The FMR underscores the physical, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, and fraternal connections among communities living across the border.
• Indo-Myanmar Border (IMB):

                The IMB stretches over 1,643 km, traversing four states: Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, and Arunachal Pradesh.

                It extends from the northern tripoint with China to the southern tripoint with Bangladesh.

                The responsibility of guarding the IMB falls on the Assam Rifles.