India and Myanmar are reportedly examining the possibility of a territorial exchange to resolve a long-pending undemarcated stretch of their international border along Manipur. Responding to questions at a press briefing in New Delhi on Tuesday, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said discussions were continuing over portions of the boundary that remain unsettled.
"There are certain areas on the border which are yet to be settled. Discussions on those sectors are ongoing," Jaiswal said.
He was responding to reports suggesting that India was considering a land swap with Myanmar along the Manipur border. While he did not confirm the reports, he acknowledged that talks were underway to resolve the unresolved sections of the boundary.
His remarks came weeks after US-based magazine The Diplomat reported on July 17, citing an "official document", that New Delhi was evaluating a proposal to complete the demarcation of the border between boundary pillars 65 and 68 by exchanging nearly 1.4 square miles of territory. The stretch between these pillars is around 2.8 km long.
The proposed exchange area lies in Manipur's Chandel district near Myanmar's Kabaw Valley in the Sagaing Region. According to the reported document, dated May 26, 2026, the demarcation exercise was expected to be completed within three months.
India and Myanmar share a 1,643-km international border passing through Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram before extending into Myanmar's Sagaing Region and Chin State. Much of the boundary runs through mountainous and forested terrain and cuts across communities with longstanding ethnic and cultural ties on both sides.
According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, about 1,472 km of the border has already been demarcated through boundary pillars, while nearly 171 km remains unresolved, primarily in Arunachal Pradesh's Lohit sector and Manipur's Kabaw Valley.
Why India may be considering a territorial exchange
According to The Diplomat, the reported proposal is aimed at resolving one of the remaining undemarcated stretches of the border, allowing India to complete fencing along the frontier to curb illegal immigration, insurgent movement and other cross-border activities.
In 2024, India announced plans to fence the entire 1,643-km border with Myanmar and discontinue the Free Movement Regime introduced in 2018. The arrangement had allowed tribal communities living along the border to travel up to 16 km into each other's territory without a visa using border passes.
The current India-Myanmar boundary was established under a bilateral agreement signed in 1967, although several sections remain unresolved. In 2018, the government informed Parliament that the remaining stretches would be settled through a bilateral boundary mechanism, including the identification and installation of nine boundary pillars.
Among the most sensitive areas in Manipur are the Molcham sector between pillars 64 and 68, the Moreh sector between pillars 75 and 79, and the Choro Khunou sector between pillars 88 and 95. India has consistently maintained that it does not have a broader border dispute with Myanmar and that only nine boundary pillars remain to be finalised through bilateral discussions.
Citing an unnamed government official, The Diplomat reported that the issue was discussed during Myanmar leader Min Aung Hlaing's visit to India last month. According to the report, both sides explored the possibility of installing auxiliary and new boundary pillars in the Molcham sector between pillars 65 and 68 while also reviewing a 2017 Ministry of External Affairs proposal concerning the alignment of the border in that area.
India has previously undertaken territorial exchanges with neighbouring countries. In 2015, India and Bangladesh implemented the Land Boundary Agreement, under which India transferred 111 enclaves to Bangladesh and received 51 Bangladeshi enclaves, ending a boundary dispute that had persisted for more than four decades.
Proposal faces opposition in Manipur
The reported proposal has already triggered opposition in Manipur.
Following The Diplomat's report, The Imphal Times reported that the Coordinating Committee on Manipur Integrity (COCOMI) warned the Centre against transferring any part of Manipur's territory to Myanmar and said it would launch a strong public movement if such a proposal were implemented.
COCOMI, an umbrella body of Meitei civil society organisations formed in 2019 during the Centre's peace talks with Naga insurgent groups, said on July 27 that if the reported proposal proved accurate and was acted upon, it would not remain silent.
Describing Manipur's territorial integrity as non-negotiable, the organisation said the state's existing boundaries had been inherited from previous generations and protected over time. It also argued that Manipur had already lost portions of its historical territory following its merger with the Indian Union in 1949 and maintained that any further reduction in the state's geographical boundaries would be unacceptable.
The organisation further cautioned the Centre against taking any decision affecting Manipur's territorial integrity without the consent of the people, warning that doing so would amount to "playing with fire."
