Tezpur/Guwahati, 20 Jan

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday announced that inorder to restrict free movement into India, it would fence the border along Myanmar. The announcement comes amid Myanmar soldiers fleeing into India to escape ethnic clashes. Addressing the passing out parade of the first batch of the five newly constituted Assam Police Commando battalions in Guwahati,Shah said the Centre is rethinking the free-movement facility with Myanmar.

The Central government had said it plans to fence a 300-km stretch of unfenced boundary with Myanmar and end the Free Movement Regime, which allows people living on both sides of the international border to travel within 16 km into each other's territory without visa.

"The India-Myanmar border will be protected like the Bangladesh border... The Government of India will stop the free movement with Myanmar," the Home Minister said.

He also said the Prime Minister's mission of bringing peace and development in the northeast has been successful.

While addressing the Sashastra Seema Bal's (SSB) 60th Raising Day at Salonibari near here, he also said among all the central armed police forces, SSB plays "a unique role in minutely integrating culture, history, topography and language" of the border villages, and bringing people in those areas closer to rest of the country.

"In the next three years, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country will be 100 per cent free from the Naxal problem," asserted Shah.

The northeast has witnessed a 73-per cent decline in incidents of violence, while deaths of security personnel have come down by 71 percent and that of citizens by 86 per cent, he claimed.

During the last nine years, nine peace accords have been signed and nearly 9,000 youths gave up arms, he said.

Shah also expressed gratitude to Bodoland Territorial Region (BTR) Chief Pramod Bodo for bringing the youths to the mainstream and engaging them in the development process.

Following the signing of the Bodo accord in January 2020, 1,615 Bodo youths have returned to the mainstream, the NDFB was disbanded and Rs 1,500-crore financial aid was provided to Bodoland, Shah said.

Hailing the SSB, Shah said it is a unique organisation that has not only guarded the borders, faced terrorists and Naxals in difficult terrains, but has also ensured the cultural unity of border villages.

"This helps us not only to integrate these villages with the rest of the country, but also strengthen India's stand in areas where there are disputes with the bordering nations," Shah said.