Why This Manipur Town Is Keeping One Eye On Myanmar

BORDER BUSINESS: Indians, who can go across the Indo-Myanmar Friendship Gate without a passport and visa, usually sell garments and food and bring back Chinese and Thai goods

- Amava Bhattacharya

For years, the border town of Moreh, 107km from Imphal, has been the gateway to Myanmar. Literally, because all Indians have to do is hop across the India-Myanmar Friendship Gate without a passport and visa to get access to the bazaars of Tamu and Namphalong, both buying and selling goods and tying the two countries with the umbilical cord of commerce.

But the past 11 months have shut off this key gateway to their livelihood. In March, following the outbreak of Covid, the border was sealed. And on February 1, the day the Union Budget was announced, the Myanmar military staged a coup, which put paid to any chance of it reopening soon.

But Moreh’s multi-cultural mix of Kukis, Meiteis, Tamils, Biharis, Marwaris and Nepalis are nothing if not pragmatic. Far away from the diplomatic enclaves of New Delhi and Yangon, the people of Moreh and its Myanmarese counterpart Tamu feel that such is their dependence on each other that no coup can impact their business for long.

“We have been doing business with Myanmar for decades, including when the junta was in power from 1962 to 2011. This latest coup should not affect our ties. Our only concern is the prolonged closure of the border. The Myanmarese side first said it would reopen on December 31, then January 31. Now with the situation changing in Yangon, it looks like the border will be shut for a while,” says Thilla Khan, Moreh resident and office-bearer of the local Tamil Sangam (association).