Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday emphasised the need to strengthen India’s border security via equally advanced technology. Shah was on a visit to the forward posts along the International Border in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua, where he made the remarks addressing the Border Security Force (BSF) troops.
He said the government and the BSF both share the common objective to keep the borders of the country secure, adding that the challenges faced some years ago are completely different from those faced today.
“The challenges we faced at the borders some years ago are completely different from the challenges we face today. Your dedication to remaining constantly vigilant on the frontlines is extremely important. However, as challenges are emerging through advanced technology, we must also find technological solutions to counter them,” the home minister said.
The visit comes amid heightened focus on border management to scuttle infiltration of terrorists and smuggling of weapons and narcotics, and stepped-up anti-terror operations that left four hardcore Pakistani terrorists of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) dead in nearly a dozen encounters in Kathua, Udhampur, and Kishtwar districts over the past two weeks.
On his visits to the border outposts of Gurnam and Bobiyian in the Hiranagar sector, the union minister was accompanied by Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Director of the Intelligence Bureau Tapan Kumar Deka, and Director General of BSF Praveen Kumar.
“I have made a promise that the 60th year of the BSF would be observed as the year of BSF modernisation, and of the welfare of BSF personnel and their families. A team in the Ministry of Home Affairs is working on both these aspects,” he said.
“Additionally, the government is ready to spend funds required to modernise border security on the basis of technology. I believe that improved border infrastructure and modern equipment will greatly help you in performing your duties. Through this, we will also try to reduce your difficulties to some extent, so that you can discharge your responsibilities in a better manner,” he said.
Shah reached here late Thursday night on a two-day visit to J&K and was received by Lt Governor Sinha, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, and senior BJP leaders, including Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Sunil Sharma.
In Kathua, the home minister virtually inaugurated and laid the foundation stone of six welfare schemes for border guards at Bobiyian, the officials said.
“Whenever I visit a BSF post — whether it is the desert of Kutch, Rajasthan, or the region of Jammu and Kashmir — I always return after learning from the true spirit of duty, consciousness and the highest standards which you demonstrate while carrying out your duties with dedication and commitment,” the home minister said, adding, “This spirit is rooted in your 60 years of valour-filled history, which has earned you respect and admiration across the entire nation.”
Referring to Operation Sindoor in May last year, Shah said the exemplary courage displayed by the BSF has become a golden chapter in its six-decade-long history.
“Even in that difficult moment, all of you kept alive and elevated the spirit that we are the guardians of the border, ensuring that it remained radiant and unshaken. Under the Jammu and Kashmir frontier, 118 posts and three terror launch pads were destroyed by the BSF,” he said.
Shah paid tributes to Sub-inspector Mohammad Imtiyaz and Constable Deepak Chingtham, who made the supreme sacrifice in the Jammu sector and were honoured with Vir Chakra for their exceptional bravery.
Not only on the borders, but the home minister also said, even in the interior regions of the country — whether it is the difficult terrain of Manipur, the north-eastern states, or particularly the Maoist-affected areas suffering from left-wing extremism in Odisha and Chhattisgarh — the BSF has demonstrated courage, commitment, and valour.
“During the natural calamity in Punjab (in August-September last year), you displayed humanity and showed deep compassion towards the people. When the Chief Minister of Punjab (Bhagwant Mann) came to meet me, he himself said that had the BSF not been there, the difficulties faced by everyone during the floods would have increased manifold,” he said.
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