By IANS
Moreh (Manipur)/New Delhi : Trading between India and Myanmar resumed in the border town of Moreh in Manipur after the international border was reopened Tuesday after a nine-hour closure. Officials in New Delhi, however, denied the border was sealed to stop the entry of any pro-democracy agitators fleeing from across the border.
“The border with Myanmar was sealed Monday, but things are back to normal Tuesday morning with border trade resuming,” O. Tombi Singh, a police official in Moreh, the last Indian township on the border with Myanmar, told IANS.
However, officials in the Indian capital stressed that the border was not closed to prevent Myanmarese activists from crossing the border.
Local authorities said the border was sealed from 8 a.m. Monday following intelligence reports that pro-democracy agitators from Myanmar and their Indian supporters could stage a rally against the military junta’s recent crackdown on protesters.
Border trade came to a halt Monday following the closure of the gates, but shops in the otherwise bustling Moreh town in Chandel district remained open.
Moreh, located about 100 km southeast of Manipur’s capital Imphal, was the entry point of scores of pro-democracy agitators into India in 1988 when Yangon launched a brutal assault to crush the anti-junta uprising.
Soldiers backing the junta in Myanmar fired on protesting monks last month and hauled hundreds of clergymen to quell the latest uprising, the biggest such protests since the 1988 pro-democracy movement that saw about 3,000 people killed.
According to local officials, no significant increase in the number of Myanmarese crossing the border into India had been observed so far, despite the crackdown on the other side of the border.
“Maybe, that’s because upper Burma (Myanmar) which touches India has not witnessed the widespread uprising as Yangon has,” said a senior district official.
The border gates will again be closed Wednesday, but only to mark the full moon day, which is sacred to Buddhists.