Rajnath Singh To Review Myanmar Border Situation With Chief Ministers Of 4 Northeastern States

Home Minister Rajnath Singh will hold a meeting with the chief ministers of four Northeastern states that neighbour Myanmar to discuss plans to check cross-border movement of insurgents and smugglers.

To be held in Aizawl on June 12, the day-long meeting will be attended by Pema Khandu, Shurhozelie Liezietsu, N Biren Singh and Lal Thanhawla, the chief ministers of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram respectively.

The security situation and development activities along the 1,643 km-long India-Myanmar border that spans these states will be discussed in detail at the meeting to be chaired by the home minister.

The international border with Mynamar is considered to be porous with cross-border movement of insurgents and smuggling of arms and ammunition common there.

The meeting will see discussions on the status of infrastructure along the Indo-Myanmar border, implementation of development projects and streamlining the 'free movement regime' for better facilitation of movement of people across the border, an official statement said.

Work relating to boundary survey and coordination issues between the states and the border guarding force, Assam Rifles, will also be discussed.

This is for the first time that such a meeting has been called to discuss issues concerning Mynamar border with active participation of state governments.

A similar meeting of chief ministers of five Himalayan states -- Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh -- was held last month in Gangtok to discuss security and developmental activities along the 3,488-km-long Sino-Indian border.

The chief secretaries, directors general of police (DGPs) of the states, director general of the Assam Rifles and senior officials from the central ministries concerned will be present at the meeting.