Sealing international boundaries will keep illegal entrants under check: Defence experts

Defence experts on 25 March, 2017 welcomed Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh's assertion that India is planning to seal the international boundaries with Pakistan and Bangladesh by 2018 and said the terrorists sponsored by the ISIS have been infiltrating through the same route in the states of Assam and West Bengal.

Defence expert Brigadier (Retd.) Anil Gupta said it is an important decision as the Bangladeshis have been sneaking into the Indian territory through this porous border.

"We have the Muslims of Burma who have been infiltrating into India and especially terrorists sponsored by the ISIS who are infiltrating into India in the states of Assam and Bengal to make their bases there ," Brigadier (Retd.) Gupta told ANI.

Another defence expert Commodore (Retd.) Praful Bakshi on his part said the borders between Islamabad, New Delhi and Dhaka must be properly sealed because illegal entries through these borders, especially from the Bangladesh side, have become a nightmare for India.

"It does not mean the people will not be allowed to cross the border, but everything will be legalised in a proper Standard operating Procedure. Proper documentation will be done that will keep illegal entrants under check," he told ANI.

The Home Minister earlier in the day said that India is planning to seal the international boundaries with Pakistan and Bangladesh as soon as possible.

"India is planning to seal the international boundaries with Pakistan and Bangladesh as soon as possible. This could be India's major step against terrorism and the problem of refugees," he said in his address at the passing out parade of the Border Security Force Assistant Commandants at the BSF Academy in Tekanpur, Madhya Pradesh.

Singh further said that the border with Pakistan would be sealed by 2018, adding this decision has been taken in the wake of the increase in infiltration attempts.

"The project will be periodically monitored by the Home Secretary at the Central-level, the BSF from the security forces' perspective and the Chief Secretaries at the state-level," Singh said, adding that the government would apply technological solutions for sealing the border in difficult terrains.

The government's decision to seal the border comes in the wake of rising tensions between India and Pakistan after the 18 September, 2017 terror attack on a military base in Jammu and Kashmir and the Indian Army's surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the Line of Control.

-ANI