Securing the Northeast: India’s Border Fence with Myanmar

 Keywords: India, Myanmar, Northeast, Border Management, Fencing, Pakistan, Bangladesh

Date: 02nd July, 2025

On 24 February 2024, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that the Government of India would construct fences along its border with Myanmar to prevent illegal migration, drug trafficking and movement of insurgents through the porous border. By September 2024, the union government approved Rs 31,000 crores for the fencing project and declared that 30 km of fences have already been constructed in Manipur.

Additionally, two pilot projects of 1 km each of border fences involving hybrid surveillance system are being implemented in Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur. In Manipur, the fencing project is carried out under ‘Project Sewak’ of the Border Road Organisation (BRO), and in Arunachal Pradesh, surveys are being conducted to start border fencing.

The decision to fence the Myanmar border is not new. In 2004-05, the Indian government had decided to build a 10 km long fence with Myanmar in Manipur to curb the easy cross-border circulations of insurgents and traffickers. The present urgency to fence the entire India-Myanmar border came in the aftermath of the ethnic violence in Manipur which claimed around 260 lives and displaced thousands.

It was argued that illegal migration of Kuki-Chin people from strife torn Myanmar into Manipur was primarily responsible in fomenting Kuki-Meitei tensions in the state. Manipur government also asserted that the illegal migrants are engaged in illegal poppy cultivation as well. In view of these developments, the Indian government argued that building fences along India-Myanmar is imperative to secure the region against infiltrations, smuggling and ethnic violence.

The decision to construct the border fence has invited stiff opposition, both locally and across the border. The tribal communities — Nagas, Mizo, and Kuki — have strongly opposed the fencing arguing that it would disrupt their socio-economic and ethnic ties. Various civil society groups, student organizations as well as political leaders representing these tribes have called for strikes and even forcefully closed government offices in Manipur.

The state assemblies of Nagaland and Mizoram have passed resolutions against border fencing and asked the union government to stop the fencing work. Significantly, the National Unity Government (NUG) of Myanmar has also urged the Indian government to suspend work on border fencing arguing that the decision is unilateral and that the border has unresolved disputed patches.

The statement of the NUG was in response to the killing of 10 armed cadres of the People Defence Forces (PDF) by the Assam Rifles in May 2025 when the PDF cadres allegedly tried to ‘disturb’ the ongoing work to fence the India-Myanmar border.

Experiences of India-Pakistan & India-Bangladesh Borders

Countries that build fences tend to do so after perceiving threats from infiltrations by illegal immigrants, insurgents, terrorists and smugglers from one or more neighbouring countries. Most often than not, countries construct border fences unilaterally in response to perceived threats because their neighbours are either unwilling (or incapable) to stop the egress of unwanted persons and goods from their territory. Thus, countries who built fences have had to brave protests not only locally but also from neighbouring countries and the international community. India, which is perhaps the first country to build border fences to prevent illegal migration had encountered a lot of local protests and oppositions from its neighbours.

India constructed its first fence along the India-Bangladesh border in the mid-1980s in the aftermath of Assam agitation which was triggered by largescale illegal migration from East Pakistan and later Bangladesh. Dhaka opposed the fencing arguing that it is a military structure and a unilateral act, leading to firing and counter firing by the border guarding forces of both countries. The clash left a few BSF personnel and members of a survey team dead, resulting in the temporary suspension of the construction of the fence.

At the same time, the government also faced protests from local residents as they feared that border fences would sever ties with their kith and kin across the border. Further, since the fences were constructed 150 yards inside the Indian territory, many villages and agricultural lands fell ahead of the fences. In these areas, the local people vehemently protested against the construction of fences because they feared losing their agricultural land which fell beyond these fences.

In late 1980s, India also constructed border fences with Pakistan to prevent the infiltration of Sikh militants in Punjab. Interestingly, construction of fencing in Punjab was opposed neither by Pakistan or the local people. In fact, the local people welcomed the move because they did not share ethnic ties across the border but were living in constant fear of the militants.

Fencing in Jammu, however, attracted strong protests from Pakistan who considered Jammu & Kashmir as a disputed territory. It argued that since the border was disputed, India should not unilaterally change the ground situation by building fences. Fencing in Jammu could be completed only after India and Pakistan signed the Ceasefire Agreement in November 2003.

Fencing work along Myanmar border was also opposed by the Myanmar government as well as the local people. Myanmar government objected citing unresolved border issues, but the matter was settled after negotiations where it was agreed that the fence should be built after leaving a 10 metre ‘no construction zone’ along the international border.

However, this stipulation was not accepted by the local people as they argued that construction of fences 10 metres inside Indian territory would result in Manipur losing substantial portions of its territory to Myanmar. It was only after much persuasion that the locals allowed the border fence to be completed.

Even though border fences are controversial and attract lots of criticism, they have been beneficial for the countries who erected them. In case of India, the border fences along Pakistan have been successful in preventing the easy ingress of Sikh and Kashmiri militants into the country. India-Bangladesh border fences too have substantially prevented illegal migration and smuggling.

Likewise, it is asserted that fences along the India Myanmar border will assist in securing the region by preventing unauthorized entry of Chin and Rohingya refugees and infiltration by insurgents. It will also disrupt illicit trade in drugs as well as arms. Importantly, fences will reinforce the physical existence of the international border on the ground, which has hitherto remained ambiguous as local people refuse to accept the international boundary.

Last but not least, fences will result in better border management by effectively monitoring as well as in regulating cross border activities will be better regulated and monitored, improving patrolling and surveillance along the border and enhancing governance in the border areas.

Pushpita Das is Research Fellow and Coordinator of the Internal Security Centre at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA), New Delhi.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above and the information available are those of the author/s and can therefore in no way be taken to reflect the position of Asian Confluence