‘Key to national security, prevent infiltration, curb smuggling’
New Delhi, Dec 16: Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on Tuesday said that India has physically fenced more than 93% of its international border with Pakistan.
In a written reply to a query by two Trinamool Congress MPs, Jagdish Chandra Barma Basunia and Sharmila Sarkar, regarding the unfenced portions of India’s international borders, Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai, according to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), informed the Lok Sabha that fencing has been completed along 2,135.136 kilometres, accounting for 93.25 per cent of the total 2,289.66-kilometre India-Pakistan border.
The remaining 154.524 kilometres, or 6.75 per cent, is yet to be fenced, the reply added.
It stated that border fencing remains a key component of India’s strategy to curb infiltration and enhance national security.
Notably, in total, India has a land border of 15,106.7 km and a coastline of 7,516.6 km, sharing boundaries with seven neighbouring countries.
The government’s efforts to fence the Pakistan border are part of broader measures to secure India’s sensitive western frontier.
The government said fencing work along the remaining stretches is underway, with challenges in difficult terrains and strategically sensitive areas.
The completed fencing is expected to enhance surveillance, reduce cross-border smuggling, and prevent infiltration by hostile elements.
India has also made progress on other borders, including Bangladesh and Myanmar, though the focus on the Pakistan border underscores the government’s emphasis on national security in the west.
The government has strengthened intelligence gathering, inter-agency coordination and border management over the past two years, leading to improved detection of infiltration attempts and neutralisation of terror networks, Nityanand Rai told the LS in an answer to another question, as per KNO.
He said capacities of central and state law enforcement agencies have been enhanced to mitigate terror risks.
He said closer coordination between central agencies and state police has enabled joint operations against terror modules involved in recruitment, financing and other activities.
Border guarding forces have been equipped with drones, thermal imagers, night-vision devices and radar systems under the Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System.
These measures, Rai said, have resulted in reduced infiltration attempts, increased drone interceptions and recovery of arms, ammunition and narcotics.
Pertinently, India-Pakistan border stretches across Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, and Gujarat, and includes the Line of Control in J&K. (KNO)
