{"id":40008,"date":"2025-03-28T19:22:19","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T13:52:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=40008"},"modified":"2025-03-28T19:26:34","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T13:56:34","slug":"india-myanmar-free-movement-regime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/28-03-2025\/india-myanmar-free-movement-regime","title":{"rendered":"Free Movement Regime between India and Myanmar\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/IR\/GS3\/Internal Security<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In 2024, the Union Home Minister announced that the<strong> Free Movement Regime (FMR) along the Myanmar border<\/strong> would be scrapped but there hasn\u2019t been any progress yet.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Free Movement Regime<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The FMR is a <strong>mutually agreed arrangement<\/strong> between the<strong> two countries <\/strong>that allows tribes living along the border to travel inside the other country<strong> without a visa.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The FMR with Myanmar came into <strong>existence in 1968<\/strong> as people on either side of the border have familial and ethnic ties.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The territorial limit of free movement then was <strong>40 km,<\/strong> which was <strong>reduced to 16 km in 2004, <\/strong>and additional regulations were enforced in 2016.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Reasons for Scrapping FMR<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Threat to internal security: <\/strong>The instability in Myanmar, coupled with the presence of armed groups, poses a significant challenge for India in terms of cross-border migration and internal security.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Drug Trafficking: <\/strong>The drugs that are coming in from the Golden Triangle, a region where the jungle borders of <strong>Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar<\/strong> meet and which is one of the world\u2019s main illicit drug production and trafficking areas,&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Insurgent Groups:<\/strong> The prevailing arrangement&nbsp; allows insurgents to have camps in the dense jungles of Myanmar across the border.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Refugees Influx: <\/strong>There are a large number of refugees moving into the northeastern (NE) states, primarily in Manipur.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>China\u2019s Influence: <\/strong>Myanmar\u2019s dependence on China grew post-coup in 2021, with China shielding Myanmar from international criticism, though Myanmar had sought diversification pre-coup.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Brief on India- Myanmar Relations<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Location:<\/strong> India shares a long land border with Myanmar as well as a maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Four northeastern states, <\/strong>viz., Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram, have a boundary with Myanmar.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img data-dominant-color=\"cdc5aa\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"923\" height=\"518\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Brief-on-India-Myanmar-Relations.webp\" alt=\"Brief on India Myanmar Relations\" class=\"not-transparent wp-image-40009\" style=\"--dominant-color: #cdc5aa; width:520px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Brief-on-India-Myanmar-Relations.webp 923w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Brief-on-India-Myanmar-Relations-300x168.webp 300w, https:\/\/wp-images.nextias.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/format=auto\/ca\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Brief-on-India-Myanmar-Relations-768x431.webp 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 923px) 100vw, 923px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Diplomatic Relations:<\/strong> Diplomatic relations between India and Myanmar have generally been friendly, with high-level visits and engagements strengthening ties at the governmental level.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&nbsp;India and Myanmar signed a <strong>Treaty of Friendship in 1951.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Historical and Cultural Ties:<\/strong> Both Nations share deep historical and cultural connections, with influences from Buddhism, Hinduism, and trade routes shaping their interactions over millennia.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Geopolitical Significance: <\/strong>Myanmar holds significant geopolitical importance for India due to its strategic location, acting as a bridge between South Asia and Southeast Asia.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India is seeking to enhance its cooperation with Myanmar in line with \u2018Act East\u2019 and \u2018Neighborhood First\u2019 Policies.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Economic Cooperation:<\/strong> Economic cooperation between the two nations has been steadily growing since the trade agreement in 1970, with India being one of Myanmar&#8217;s largest trading partners.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The bilateral trade stood at US$ 1.50 billion in 2023-24. Bilateral trade is conducted under ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA) and India\u2019s Duty Free Tariff Preference (DFTP) scheme.&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Security Cooperation:<\/strong> Both countries share concerns over border security, insurgency, and cross-border trafficking.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>They have cooperated on security issues, including intelligence sharing and joint patrolling along the border.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Connectivity Projects:<\/strong> India is involved in various connectivity projects aimed at improving infrastructure and connectivity between the two countries.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project and the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway are notable examples.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sittwe Port in Myanmar\u2019s Rakhine Province is crucial for the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (KMMTTP).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Development Assistance: <\/strong>India has been providing development assistance to Myanmar in various sectors, including infrastructure, healthcare, education, and capacity building.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Shared Platforms: <\/strong>BIMSTEC, Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The political situation is unpredictable in Myanmar, India needs to establish a certain mechanism to check the flow of people from Myanmar to India.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The government needs to educate the people in India about the problems in the region, take the people into confidence, and arrive gradually at a decision.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/opinion\/op-ed\/should-the-free-movement-regime-between-india-and-myanmar-remain\/article69383147.ece\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2024, the Union Home Minister announced that the Free Movement Regime (FMR) along the Myanmar border would be scrapped but there hasn\u2019t been any progress yet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40008","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40008","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40008"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40008\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40018,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40008\/revisions\/40018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40008"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40008"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40008"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}