Indo-Pak border to be completely sealed by December 2018: Rajnath Singh

Jaisalmer: Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday announced that the Indo-Pak border will be completely sealed by December 2018 by using all effective means including technological solutions.

Speaking to media after reviewing the security situation on border with ministers and officials of four states, Singh said a proper monitoring mechanism would be in place at the central and state government levels for it.

He also mooted setting up a border security grid for which suggestions have been invited from all the concerned stakeholders including the states which share border with Pakistan.

"It is a new concept. We will be framing guidelines after getting suggestions from all stake holders," Singh said.

The Home Minister said that the government was determined to completely seal the borders with Pakistan by December 2018 and added "this project will be periodically monitored by Home Secretary at the central level, BSF from the security forces perspective and Chief Secretaries at the state level."

He said under the action plan of sealing the border, technology will also be used. "Like we have riverine and Sir Creek area in Gujarat, there we will make maximum use of technology for effective sealing of border.”

Commenting on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi's 'khoon ki dalali' remark, Singh said that people, working in any field, must show restraint at the time of escalated tensions.

Amid rising tension in Indo-Pak ties, the Union Minister today reviewed the security situation with Home Ministers and senior officials of four states that border Pakistan.

Singh chaired the meeting attended by Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab Sukhbir Singh Badal, Gujarat's Minister of State for Home Pradeepsinh Jadeja and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary Brij Raj Sharma, an official said.

Senior BSF officials were present at the meeting here which reviewed security arrangements on the border in the wake of tension between India and Pakistan after surgical strike by the Army on terror camps across the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Union Home Minister will also tour border areas of Rajasthan and visit outposts to assess the situation along the Indo-Pak border.

Out of 2,289.66 km of Indo-Pakistan Border (IPB), 2,034.96 km has been covered by physical barriers, including fencing, and the remaining 254.80 km of the border is planned to be covered by physical and non-physical barriers shortly.

There are stretches in which construction of physical barriers is not feasible due to geographic constraints such as riverine, low-lying, creek and marshy areas.

In this stretch, it is proposed to deploy technology solutions, including the deployment of cameras, sensors, radars, lasers, etc.

The BSF is testing the available technologies through pilot projects in the Jammu region, Punjab, and Gujarat.

The paramilitary force is in the process of a rollout of a Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) for this stretch of IPB, which is due to be undertaken in a year`s time.

The Indian side of the IPB, which is 3,323-km-long, passes through the states of Gujarat (508 km), Rajasthan (1,037 km), Punjab (553 km) and Jammu and Kashmir (1,225 km).

Out of the 3,323-km border with Pakistan, about 2,289.66 km of the International Border (IB) is under the operational control of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Apart from the IB, there is a Line of Control (LoC), which is under the operational control of the Ministry of Defence.

(With Agency inputs)