Imphal : The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) recently extended an invitation to the United Naga Council (UNC), the apex Naga body, for talks on the contentious issues of border fencing and also the suspension of the Free Movement Regime (FMR) along the Indo-Myanmar border.
The meeting is scheduled for August 26 in New Delhi, officials confirmed on Thursday.
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A.K. Mishra, Advisor (North East) to the MHA, has reached out to the UNC for participation in the dialogue.
The Naga body has opposed the fencing and the scrapping of the FMR, calling it a threat to what it terms as the “Naga ancestral homeland.”
The Government of India has planned to fence the 1,643 km porous border with Myanmar at an estimated cost of Rs. 31,000 crore, citing concerns of infiltration, smuggling, and other illegal activities.
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Several Naga and also Kuki organisations, however, have opposed the move.
The FMR , introduced in 2018 under India’s Act East Policy, allowed citizens of both countries to travel up to 16 km across the border without a visa.
The MHA has since suspended the arrangement to safeguard internal security and also protect the demographic balance of the North-Eastern states.
The Centre has already completed a 9.2 km stretch of fencing altogether at Moreh in Manipur’s Tengnoupal district, a key trade hub.
The Indo-Myanmar border runs through Manipur (398 km), Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Nagaland (215 km), and Mizoram (510 km), with the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) ramping up fencing works in Manipur.