India wants to close its long and porous border with Myanmar. Indian media wrote this on Sunday on the authority of Indian Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah. New Delhi would thus put an end to the agreement on free movement in the border area that it has with Naypyidaw.
The demarche comes after hundreds of Myanmar soldiers crossed the border after being attacked in their own country by ethnic minority groups. The government has therefore “decided to close the entire open border between India and Myanmar,” Shah said in a video distributed by the Times of India.
However, closing the border seems easier said than done, because not only does it cover a distance of more than 1,200 kilometers, the border also runs through the jungle and over the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas.
It is not known when India intends to close the border and how exactly it intends to do so. Shah did indicate that the principle of free movement in the border area of the two countries will be put to an end. According to its own statistics, India previously managed to close approximately 2,000 kilometers of its border with Pakistan and at least 3,100 kilometers of the border with Bangladesh.
The army has been in power again in Myanmar since 2021. Since last autumn, various minority groups have targeted the government army in the north of the country. Several places that are crucial for trade with neighboring China were conquered. After Chinese pressure, the alliance announced a ceasefire, but fighting continues on the border with India.
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