A file photo of the border pillar No.79 in the Indo-Myanmar international border in Moreh, a border town in India’s northeastern state of Manipur bordering Myanmar’s Tamu town.
| Photo Credit: RITU RAJ KONWAR
Nagaland Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio on Janunary 26 said the decision of the Centre to fence the India-Myanmar border needs thorough discussion before being implemented.
Asked by reporters about the State’s stand on the issue, Mr. Rio said the government has to consult the people.
“If the need be then we have to work out a formula on how to solve the issue for the people and prevent infiltration as well, because Nagaland is bordered by Myanmar, and on both sides there are Nagas,” he said.
Mr. Rio, an ally of the BJP, said that while many people live on the Indian side, their farms are on the other side.
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Union Home Minister Amit Shah had said last week that the government will end free movement of people at the India-Myanmar border, and fence it completely so that it can be protected like the country’s boundary with Bangladesh.
Deputy CM Y Patton had on Monday said that the Nagaland government will hold meetings with other northeastern States that share a border with Myanmar, and then approach the Centre on the issue.
Various Naga civil society organisations and also the NSCN-IM have opposed the Centre’s decision, saying that it would “divide” the Nagas living on two sides of the border.
