Advisor Imchen comes in open support of scrapping FMR

MOKOKCHUNG — In a first among the 60 Naga legislators, Advisor for IPR, Soil and Water Conservation, Imkong L Imchen has come out in open support of the Centre’s move to scrap the Free Movement Regime (FMR) between India and Myanmar.

Addressing a press conference after the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra (VBSY) programme at Khensa village, Mokokchung, on Monday, the BJP legislator said, “I fully support the removal of the FMR because a sovereign nation is determined when there is clear-cut recognised boundary between the neighbouring states.”

 “I feel it (India-Myanmar border) should be fenced immediately, not to talk about the FMR…why there should be FMR in that particular area?”  Imchen asked.

Free Movement Regime (FMR) allows tribes residing on either side of the India-Myanmar international border to travel 16 km inside each other’s territories without visa or passport.

The Manipur government, in September 2023, had urged the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) to suspend the FMR and fence the entire India-Myanmar border, in the wake of ethnic conflict in the state.

Asserting his stand, he said that there should be clear-cut boundary demarcation between India and Myanmar to address two serious concerns - drug trafficking and insurgency.

When asked whether the removal of FMR would affect ‘integration of Nagas,’ he replied, “Naga integration is not the sole responsibility of the Nagas of Nagaland, if it is from all sides than there may be necessity… but the people from the other sides and other areas do not care or need or know about integration, why we are the only people to talk about this integration?” Imchen countered.

On Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s flagship programmes, the advisor said all these programmes  are down to earth, well researched and innovative, with the to make India a developed nation by 2047.

However, the implementation part lies with the people and various departments under the state government, he added.

Earlier, during the VBSY programme, Imchen asserted that PM Modi has launched ambitious and innovative schemes, especially to bridge the economic gap between rural and urban areas.