Myanmar troops intrude, Manipur border inspected

Even as the Assam Rifles has reportedly alerted the Union Home Ministry about alleged intrusion by Myanmar troops into Indian territory nearly a week ago, but has not issued a formal statement as yet on the incident, a high-level state committee led by Principal Secretary (Home) Dr.J Suresh Babu visited the border town of Moreh to assess the situation arising out of the





allegations.

Media reports have stated that Myanmarese troops had been preparing to set up a temporary camp inside Indian land, claiming the area lay within their country.

On arriving at the border town,110 km south of Imphal in Chandel District two days ago, committee members inspected different locations of the ongoing border fencing construction sites, including  Govajang village which is said to be divided by the fence.

The Centre in consultation with the Manipur Government has started to build the border fence measuring around 10 kilometer at Moreh along the porous Indo-Myanmar border, reports the Assam Tribune daily.

According to the villagers, about 10 houses out of 25 in the village, including a church, will go to Myanmar once the fencing comes into existence.

In view of the development, the authority has stopped the ongoing construction works at Govajang.

The visiting team also visited the Holenphai village, about two kilometers away from Moreh to verify the allegations that Myanmarese troops are preparing to set up a temporary camp within the village land.

Later, Dr. Babu said a report would be submitted to the authorities for further steps to be taken.

Meanwhile, the newly floated Committee on Protection of Land in Border Fencing (CPLBF) has demanded a joint border survey along the 398 km Manipur sector of the Indo-Myanmar border involving State, Centre and Mynanmar authorities.

The CPLBF, according to the daily, has threatened to launch various forms of agitation if the authorities concerned failed to meet their demands.

India asks Myanmar to set up joint border working group

India has asked Myanmar to set upa Joint Border Working Group (JBWG) to address the issue of demarcation of border.

Though the proposal to set up JBWG has been there but after the recent incident, India has reiterated the need to set up the group to resolve the issue, official spokesperson in the Ministry of external affairs Syed Akbaruddin said today.

He said this was conveyed through India's Ambassador Gautam Mukhopadhyay.

"We hope to take it (the proposal) forward," the spokesperson added.

According to officials, Myanmarese army, last week, had initiated the ground work for setting up a temporary platoon base camp at Holenphai village, located 3 km south of Moreh police station close to Border Pillar number 76.

As per the understanding, there cannot be any construction within 10 metres from the boundary, they said.

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