Syllabus
GS Paper 3 – Security Challenges and their Management in Border Areas – Linkages of Organized Crime with Terrorism.
Context
Government has decided to construct smart fencing along the entire border with Myanmar.
Smart Fence Project
- The Smart Fence Project is a technologically advanced border security system designed to enhance surveillance in sensitive border regions. It’s known for its ability to effectively monitor and respond to border threats.
- Components: The project combines physical barriers, sensors, cameras, and communication systems for comprehensive monitoring. It involves deploying laser-activated fences and technology-enabled barriers to address vulnerable gaps along borders.
- Surveillance and Communication Devices: The Smart Border Fencing uses a variety of devices for surveillance, communication, and data storage. Sensors such as thermal imagers, underground sensors, fiber optical sensors, radar, and sonar are mounted on different platforms like aerostats, towers, and poles as part of the smart fence.
- Round-the-Clock Surveillance: The system provides for round-the-clock surveillance on the border under different weather conditions.
- This initiative is part of the Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS).
India-Myanmar Border
- India and Myanmar share a land border of approximately 1643 km and a maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal. Myanmar’s border is shared with several Indian states: Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Nagaland (215 km), Manipur (398 km), and Mizoram (510 km).
- Border Demarcation: Out of the total border length between India and Myanmar, a demarcation of 1,472 km has been completed, as reported in the Home Ministry’s 2022-23 annual report.
- Gateway to Southeast Asia: Myanmar serves as a gateway to Southeast Asia for India, being the only ASEAN country that shares a border with India.
- Infrastructure Projects: India is constructing the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport, a road-river-port cargo transport project, to connect Kolkata to Sittwe in Myanmar, and then from Myanmar’s Kaladan river to India’s northeast.
- Asian Trilateral Highway: India, Myanmar, and Thailand are collaboratively building the Asian Trilateral Highway, which will connect India to ASEAN. This road is expected to stimulate trade and commerce in the ASEAN–India Free Trade Area and with the rest of Southeast Asia.
Need for smart fencing along the India-Myanmar Border
- In response to the ethnic conflicts in Manipur in May 2023, which resulted in over 100 deaths and displacement of thousands, the central government decided to terminate the Free Movement Regime (FMR) along the Indo-Myanmar border.
- Project Development: The government had already started a fencing project along the border. Following the successful completion of a 10-kilometer pilot project, an additional 80 kilometers of Smart Border Fencing was ordered, bringing the total length to 390 kilometers.
- Ethnic Conflicts and Insurgency: The decision was influenced by ongoing ethnic conflicts and the illegal migration of Chin-Kuki nationals from Myanmar. Manipur is affected by the activities of various insurgent groups, including Meitei, Naga, Kuki, Zomi, and Hmar. The unfenced border and unregulated migration from Myanmar have been identified as factors contributing to the ethnic violence in Manipur.
- Illicit Activities: The porous border between India and Myanmar has been a conduit for large-scale smuggling of products, narcotics, weapons, and ammunition.
- Termination of FMR: With the installation of the Smart Border Fencing, the FMR will be discontinued. The FMR, which allowed undeterred border crossing by both insurgents and illegal migrants, was increasingly seen as a threat to national security.
- Enhanced Surveillance: The Smart Border Fencing system is equipped with advanced surveillance technologies to monitor and respond to border breaches in real time.
- Addressing Complex Security Challenges: The northeastern region faces a fragile security situation due to factors such as terrain, socio-economic development, tribal rivalries, and migration. The Smart Border Fencing system is a proactive measure to mitigate these threats and maintain peace and stability in the region
Challenges Along the India-Myanmar Border
- Illegal Immigration
- The Free Movement Regime (FMR) has facilitated the entry of illegal migrants seeking refuge across the border, especially after the recent military coup in Myanmar.
- According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), an estimated 22,000 refugees have entered India from Myanmar since February 2021. These migrants are seen as a significant cause of disturbances in law and order and create a demographic imbalance.
- Drug Abuse and the Golden Triangle
- The Golden Triangle, a heavily militarized and largely lawless region at the intersection of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar, is the world’s second-largest opium production region.
- The porous nature of the India-Myanmar border has facilitated the flow of drugs from Myanmar to India. Myanmar, particularly its Kachin state, is the second-largest producer of opium.
- Interlinkage Between Drug Traffickers and Insurgent Groups
- Drugs from India’s Northeastern states serve as a financial source for the insurgent groups of the Northeast.
- Most of these groups receive financial assistance from drug cartels operating mainly outside of Indian territory. In 2022, 500 cases were registered and 625 individuals were arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in Manipur.
- Smuggling of Narcotics and Illegal Arms
- The trafficking of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) is linked with the functioning of the illicit drug economy. Drugs are often used as currencies for the purchase of SALW by insurgents or terror groups.
- Rakhine militants and Indian insurgents with training camps in Myanmar’s Sagaing region are the main buyers of illegal arms.
- Human Trafficking
- The instability and internal power struggles within Myanmar have given rise to criminal syndicates exploiting vulnerable individuals for illicit gains.
- More than 400 Indian men are stuck in fraudulent IT jobs in Myanmar due to the promise of fake IT occupations. Children across the border are used as couriers for transporting heroin and methamphetamine substances, along with monitoring the Mizoram-Myanmar border.
- Ethnic Conflicts
- The ongoing ethnic conflict between the Meiteis and Kukis in Manipur is due to the illegal migration of tribal Kuki-Chin peoples from Myanmar into India.
- The Meiteis accuse the illegal migrants and the alleged “narco-terror network” along the Indo-Myanmar Border (IMB) of instigating trouble in the state, while the Kukis blame the Meiteis, alleging the use of this situation as a pretext for “ethnic cleansing.”
- Exploitation of Cross Border Ethnic Linkages
- Through the 1967 boundary agreement, the India-Myanmar boundary was superimposed on the socio-cultural landscape of the borderland, dividing several tribes and forcing them to reside as citizens of different countries.
- These tribes, having strong cross-border ethnic linkages, are often exploited by the insurgents to find shelter across the border.
Government Initiatives for Border Management
- The Border Infrastructure and Management (BIM) Scheme is a Central Sector Scheme that includes projects aimed at the infrastructure development of India’s international borders.
- The Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System is designed to enhance situational awareness and facilitate prompt responses to emerging situations along the India-Pakistan Border (IPB) and India-Bangladesh Border (IBB).
- The Border Area Development Programme (BADP) aims to address the special developmental needs and well-being of people living in remote and inaccessible areas near the International Boundary (IB). It provides essential infrastructure to border areas by converging BADP with other Central, State, UT, and Local Schemes.
- The Vibrant Villages Programme (VVP) focuses on the comprehensive development of selected villages in 46 blocks across 19 districts of the northern border in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, and the Union Territory of Ladakh.
Way forward
- Continuous Border Guarding: There is a need for continuous vigilance of the India-Myanmar border through the deployment of a regular Border Guarding force. This involves round-the-clock physical domination of the border to prevent infiltration, smuggling of drugs and arms, and illegal migration, thereby strengthening border security.
- Infrastructure Development: The creation of adequate infrastructure along the border is essential. This includes the establishment of composite Border Observation Posts (BOPs), Border Roads, and Obstacle Systems.
- Separation of Duties: The Assam Rifles (AR), currently in charge of both border patrol and ensuring border security, should have these two functions separated. A different force could be deployed exclusively for border guarding, with AR focusing on its counterinsurgency activities.
- Legal Frameworks: Improved coordination between India and Myanmar’s law enforcement agencies is crucial to combat trafficking effectively. This involves joint operations and intelligence sharing. Despite the existence of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between India and Myanmar, its terms need to be upheld more effectively.
- Victim Rehabilitation: Alongside rescue efforts, proper psychological evaluation, treatment, and support are needed to help victims reintegrate into society and rebuild their lives.
- Enhanced Collaboration: Enhancing collaboration between border control agencies and establishing direct communication channels can serve as a potent strategy to combat trafficking in persons and foster cross-border and regional cooperation.
- Awareness Creation: Border guarding forces need to promote a sense of security amongst the border population by carrying out tactical operations and identifying and projecting problems of the border population to concerned authorities.
- Strengthening Bilateral Institutional Mechanisms: India has constituted institutional mechanisms with Myanmar which need to be revised with changing dynamics and increasing challenges at the India-Myanmar Border.
Source: The Hindu
Practice Question
Discuss the significance of the Smart Border Fencing initiative along the India-Myanmar border. Analyze its impact on border management, national security, and socio-economic conditions in the region. Also, evaluate the challenges faced in its implementation and suggest measures to overcome them. [250 words]