Tamu border still requested to close

The Tamu town border area in the Sagaing region between Myanmar and India is still requested to close, said U Kyaw Win Oo, the Tamu District administrator.
“We have submitted a request to the divisional level authorities to close the borders in the area between Myanmar and India at the end of March. But, we haven’t got any information yet. We have also requested that if the authorities open the borders for some reasons, they should open the crossings only to load the cargos,” he said.
Myanmar mainly exports to India foodstuffs, personal goods, kitchenware, fruits and vegetables, beans, onion, garlic and areca nuts through the Tamu border route while importing from India foodstuff, clothes, electronic products, motorbikes, cotton yarn, non-alloy steel and other construction materials.
Myanmar government has closed the bilateral border crossing between Myanmar and India in Tamu town from 14 to the end-March. Now, we have requested divisional level authorities to close the border checkpoint again.
Nearly 60 per cent of the local residents from Tamu town depend upon the border for their livelihood. According to the locals, the Myanmar-India border crossings have hampered the flow of trade for the residents.
There are two Myanmar-India border crossings in Tamu township No 1 checkpoint and No 2 checkpoint. Border trade between Myanmar and India hit US$145 million as of 19 March in the current financial year 2020-21 ending September, said a statistical report of Myanmar’s Commerce Ministry. – Lulay/GNLM