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Infiltration through Indo-Myanmar border on rise: Army

2006-09-23 Indian Army personnel guarding the porous Indo Myanmar border in Moreh town in Manipur say that there is rise in infiltration as there is no fencing, which is a matter of great concern.

According to a trade treaty between India and Myanmar, a stretch of 40 kilometres on each side of the border is totally open.

No visa and other documents are required to cross the Indo-Myanmar border in this area. So much so it is a free-for-all passage.

"There is no fencing here and that is problem number one and that is the reason that it is very difficult to control the inflow of people moving in that is moving in from Myanmar or people going across because as per the trade agreement, people can move freely on either side of the border. So that is the first problem and the next problem is of weapon running and the third problem is drug smuggling. These are the three major problems we are facing," said Col. Vikash, Commanding Officer, 24 Assam Rifles.

Hundreds of people from Myanmar come to India for their day-to-day needs like flour, rice and other provisions.

"I had gone there to bring flour for my children. We also have our relatives there," said Santosh.

A trader on the Indian side admitted that businessmen sell goods from Myanmar and China. Even people from India buy their regular stuffs from a local market in Myanmar.

"Shoes from China, Thailand, Rangoon, from different companies are here. Materials from Thailand are costly. It comes through China border to Tambu and from Tambu it crosses the border, from where it is distributed to different places," said Wedmud, a businessman.

Myanmar, the country sharing its border with the North Eastern States of India has always been linked with high instances of drug abuses and its opium and heroin production ranks second in the world. Prior to the advent of the ' Golden Crescent' in drug trafficking, Myanmar was the nodal point of 'Golden Triangle'.

Manipur and the other North Eastern states are located at very strategic points since they share 1,463 kilometres border with Myanmar, which is vulnerable for being the identified routes for easy illicit trafficking.

As of now only 52 kilometres out of the 1,643 kilometres stretch of international border with Myanmar is manned by Indian security forces.

The foremost route, which begins in Mandalay, splits northwards to the Tamu-Moreh border crossing and the NH-39, acting as a spring board to Imphal (Manipur) then onwards to Nagaland from where in it goes to Assam and is finally shipped to Kolkata and other parts of India.

Lack of sufficient manpower, improper co-ordination among agencies and state machineries to meet the challenge and the insensitivity of the people in recognising the looming threat within the society make the passage a paradise for traffickers of all sorts.