Image credits - India Today NE
An advanced smart fencing system of 100 km long along the India-Myanmar border is underway. The smart fence will be equipped with various motion sensors, cameras and radars which will be connected to a computer that will monitor any sign of movement. The fence is being constructed a few meters inside the Indian territory due to objections from Myanmar which has raised concerns about losing parts of Indian territory to Myanmar.
The smart fence will be equipped with solar panels to power the system and communication towers to transmit data to Indian security forces. The installation of the smart fence is in response to the problematic unfenced border between India and Myanmar and illegal migration which has been causing internal instability in India.
Illegal migration and smuggling along the unfenced border have been a problem for many years. Issues like the refugee crisis and insurgencies from Myanmar are seeping through the border. The border between India and Myanmar is 1,643 kilometres long and is in a remote, mountainous region making it a border difficult to patrol and secure. It has provided with easy facilitation for illegal migration, drug trafficking and weapon smuggling. During the refugee influx in 2021, more than 1600 Myanmar nationals fled to India into the states of Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, and Mizoram causing security risks in India and burdening the local population of the states.
The smart fence will bring about huge changes in India’s bordering monitoring helping the security forces along the border exercise thorough surveillance and strengthen it. While it may not eliminate all the concerns, it will strengthen and enhance the existing security and surveillance systems along the India-Myanmar border and possibly curb the existing concerns of the Indian government and defence forces.