Smart Fencing System Along India-Myanmar Border

 

Latest Context

In October, 2023 the Ministry of Home Affairs, in its 2022-23 annual report, has introduced a plan to build a 100-kilometer Smart Fencing System (SFS) along the India-Myanmar border.

Need for SFS along the India-Myanmar Border: 

1. Ethnic Violence and Insurgency: The presence of an unfenced border and unregulated migration from Myanmar have been attributed as some of the factors responsible for the ethnic violence in Manipur.

• The report stated that in 2022, out of the 201 insurgency-related incidents registered in all the northeast States, as many as 137 incidents were registered in Manipur.
• Smart fencing system will prevent unauthorized entry and infiltration by insurgents/militants and illegal actors, addressing a pressing security issue.

2. Enhancing Surveillance: A smart fencing system equipped with advanced surveillance technologies to monitor and respond to border breaches in real time.
3. Tackling 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 fencing system is a proactive measure to mitigate these threats and maintain peace and stability in the region.

Key Points Regarding the India-Myanmar Border

1. India shares a long land border of over 1643 km with Myanmar as well as a maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal.
   •  Four northeastern states, viz. Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Nagaland (215km), Manipur (398 km) and Mizoram (510 km).
   • Out of 1,643 km, a demarcation of 1,472 km has been completed as per the MHA’s 2022-23 annual report.

 

1. Myanmar is the only ASEAN country adjoining India and, therefore, is a gateway to SouthEast Asia.

Other Smart Fencing Projects in India

1. India’s first ‘smart fence’ pilot project was launched along the India-Pakistan border in 2018.
2. Later the project BOLD-QIT (Border Electronically Dominated QRT Interception Technique)   was launched under the Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) on the Indo- Bangladesh border in 2019.
3. Two pilot projects covering about 71 Kms on Indo-Pakistan Border (10 Kms) and Indo-Bangladesh Border (61 Kms) of CIBMS have been completed.

• CIBMS involves deployment of a range of state-of-the-art surveillance technologies — thermal imagers, infra-red and laser-based intruder alarms, aerostats for aerial surveillance, unattended ground sensors that can help detect intrusion bids, radars, sonar systems to secure riverine borders, fiber-optic sensors and a command-and-control system that shall receive data from all surveillance devices in real time.

 

 

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