India will stop free movement regime with Myanmar, says Amit Shah

Guwahati: Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday said the government will end the free movement of people at the India-Myanmar border, and fence it completely so that it can be protected like the country's boundary with Bangladesh.

Shah made the announcement while addressing the passing out parade of the first batch of the five newly constituted Assam Police Commando battalions in Guwahati.

"The Narendra Modi government has decided that the India-Myanmar border, which is open, will be protected by barbed fencing. The entire border will have barbed fencing like what we have at the India-Bangladesh border," he said.

"The Indian government is rethinking the free movement agreement with Myanmar. Now, the Government of India is going to stop this facility," he added.

The Free Movement Regime allows people living on both sides of the border to travel 16 km into each other's territory without a visa.

Four Indian states -- Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram, share a 1,643-km-long border with Myanmar.

Earlier, officials had said that the government was planning to fence a 300-km stretch of the border. (PTI)