The India–Myanmar border is the international border between

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

(formerly Burma). The border is in length and runs from the

tripoint A triple border, tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geography, geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or Administrative division, subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints ...

with

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in the north to the tripoint with

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

in the south.

History

19th century

The first formation of the Indo-Burmese border was through the First Anglo-Burmese War, which resulted in the

Treaty of Yandabo The Treaty of Yandabo ( ) was the peace treaty that ended the First Anglo-Burmese War. The treaty was signed on 24February 1826, nearly two years after the war formally broke out on 5March 1824, by General Sir Archibald Campbell on the British ...

in 1826. The Burmese relinquished control over

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

Manipur Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...

, Rakhine (

Arakan Arakan ( or ; , ), formerly anglicised as Aracan, is the historical geographical name for the northeastern coastal region of the Bay of Bengal, covering present-day Bangladesh and Myanmar. The region was called "Arakan" for centuries. It is ...

), and the Taninthayi coast, thereby delimiting much of the modern boundary in general terms. In 1834 the Kabaw Valley areas was returned to Burma and a modified boundary delimited in this region, dubbed the ' Pemberton Line' after a British boundary commissioner, which was later refined in 1881. In 1837 the Patkai Hills were unilaterally designated as the northern boundary. Large swathes of Burma were annexed to the British Empire following the Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1852–53. The remainder of Burma was

conquered Conquest involves the annexation or control of another entity's territory through war or coercion. Historically, conquests occurred frequently in the international system, and there were limited normative or legal prohibitions against conquest ...

in 1885 and incorporated into British India as a

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

. In 1894 a boundary between Manipur and the Chin Hills (recognized as part of Burma) was delimited, and the existing 'Pemberton line' boundary modified again in 1896. Further boundary modifications were made in 1901, 1921 and 1922.

20th century

In 1937 Burma was split off from India and became a separate colony. In 1947 India gained independence, however the country was partitioned into two states (India and

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

), with the southernmost section of the Burma-India border becoming that between Burma and

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

(modern

). Burma gained independence in 1948. On 10 March 1967 Burma and India signed a boundary treaty which delimited their common frontier in detail. Security along the border has often been poor, owing to ongoing conflicts in

north-east India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political administrative division of the country. It comprises eight states—Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, M ...

and western Myanmar.

Free movement regime

The India–Myanmar border previously had a Free Movement Regime (FMR), allowing border tribes to travel visa-free up to across, which was terminated by Indian government in February 2024 due to 2023–2025 Manipur violence and rampant illegal cross-border activities. This facilitated movement for over 300,000 people in border villages, rooted in historical economic and cultural ties acknowledged by both nations through reciprocal passport rule amendments in 1948-50, permitting travel within with short stays., p. 45-46.Pushpita Das
Free Movement Regime: A Unique Feature of the India-Myanmar Border
Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, 17 January 2024. Initially unrestricted, India introduced a permit system in 1968 due to insurgencies, and later, in 2004, limited the travel distance to and designated three crossing points due to rising drug and arms trafficking. A formal Land Border Crossing Agreement in 2018 required border passes for residents within with a 14-day stay limit. Amidst the violence, insurgency and rampant illegal cross-border activities, the Indian government terminated the FMR in February 2024, facing opposition from Mizoram government and some civil society groups.Harsh V. Pant, Sreeparna Banerjee
Fencing frontiers with Myanmar: The benefits and challenges of FMR along India-Myanmar border
Observer Research Foundation, 8 January 2024.

Border

Description

The trijunction of India, China and Myanmar is not yet agreed among the three nations. The de facto tripoint is located just north of the Diphu Pass in Kibithu sector. From here the border proceeds to the south-west through the Mishmi Hills, except for an Indian protrusion at the Chaukan Pass entailing Vijaynagar valley, then continuing through the

Patkai The Pat-kai (Pron:pʌtˌkaɪ) or Patkai Bum ( Burmese: ''Patkaing Taungdan'') are a series of mountains on the Indo-Myanmar border falling in the northeastern Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Upper Burma region of Myanmar. I ...

and Kassom Ranges. At the south-east corner of

it turns sharply westwards along various rivers for a period over to the Tiau River. It then follows this river southwards for a long stretch down to the Chin Hills, before turning west and proceeding to the Bangladeshi tripoint via a series of irregular lines.

Barrier

The India–Myanmar barrier, a

border barrier A border barrier, border fence or border wall is a separation barrier that runs along or near an international border. Such barriers are typically constructed for border control purposes such as curbing illegal immigration, human trafficking, a ...

along -long border under-construction by

, aims to seal the border, curtail cross-border crime, including goods, arms and counterfeit currency smuggling, drug trafficking, and insurgency. Four Northeast Indian states share the border with Myanmar, i.e.

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

Nagaland Nagaland () is a States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, north-eastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south, and the Naga Sel ...

Mizoram Mizoram is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India, with Aizawl as its Capital city, capital and largest city. It shares 722-kilometres (449 miles) of international borders with Bangladesh to the west, and Myanmar t ...

, and

. Both national governments agreed to conduct a joint survey before erecting the fence. The Indian Home Ministry and its Myanmar counterpart completed the study within six months and in March 2003 began erecting a fence along the border. In 2024, India approved for the construction of border fence along the Myanmar border.Government sanctions ₹31,000 crore to fence Myanmar border
The Hindu, 16 Sept 2024. Of the total, length, only 30 km was fenced by September 2024, remaining was being expedited. Issues have been raised that many local ethnic communities, such as the Kuki, Naga, Mizo, and Chins whose lands straddle the regions between the two countries, will be divided by this fence. However, the Indian security forces justify the need for the fence by blaming the porous border as a national security threat. For example, during two year period between 2001-2003 alone 200 security personnel and civilians died in the militancy-related violence in the region, and in 2007 a violent boundary dispute arose among the locals regarding the ownership of nine border pillars in Manipur. India has similar fence on borders with

and

.1643 km Indo-Myanmar border to be fenced, a patrol track to be built: Amit Shah
Hindustan Times, 6 Feb 2024.

Border crossings

Border force

The Indo-Myanmar Border Force (IMBF) is a proposed and soon-to-be-composed force of 29 battalions - 25 battalions from

Assam Rifles The Assam Rifles (AR) is a paramilitary force of India responsible for border security, counter-insurgency, and maintaining law and order in Northeast India and in Jammu & Kashmir in lines of Rashtriya Rifles. Its primary duty involves guard ...

and 4 battalions from

Indo-Tibetan Border Police The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) is a Central Armed Police Forces, central armed police force in India under the Ministry of Home Affairs (India), Ministry of Home Affairs. It is responsible for guarding Border guard, India’s border with ...

- to guard the long Indo-Myanmar border. IMBF will remain under ITBP and will patrol the border to the zero line (as of January 2018).Home ministry looks to form 29-battalion Indo-Myanmar border force
, Hindustan Times, 18 Jan 2018.

Border markets

See Haats on India-Myanmar border.

Maritime boundaries

India and Myanmar have maritime

exclusive economic zone An exclusive economic zone (EEZ), as prescribed by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, is an area of the sea in which a sovereign state has exclusive rights regarding the exploration and use of marine natural resource, reso ...

s in each other's vicinity. Landfall Island, India's northernmost Island in

Andaman and Nicobar The Andaman and Nicobar Islands is a union territory of India comprising 572 islands, of which only 38 are inhabited. The islands are grouped into two main clusters: the northern Andaman Islands and the southern Nicobar Islands, separated by ...

is south of Coco Islands belonging to Myanmar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:India-Myanmar border

border Borders are generally defined as geography, geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by polity, political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other administrative divisio ...

Borders of India Borders of Myanmar International borders