BSF personnel, not fences alone, have secured our borders: Amit Shah

Amit Shah said that only 60 km of border with Pakistan and Bangladesh now remain unfenced after the NDA completed 560 km of fencing in nine years

Hazaribagh: Union home minister Amit Shah said on Friday that fences alone do not secure the borders of the country but it is the Border Security Force (BSF) personnel who play a primary role in it while adding that the remaining gaps on the borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh will be plugged in the next two years.

Union home minister Amit Shah at BSF’s 59th Raising Day in Jharkhand on Friday. (ANI)

Shah said that only 60 km of border with these two countries now remain unfenced after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government completed 560 km of fencing in the last nine years.

India shares 3,323 km of its land border with Pakistan and 4,096 km with Bangladesh. Government sanctioned the fencing of total 2,097 km border with Pakistan, out of which, 2,064 km has been fenced while 32 km is pending.

Similarly, along the Bangladesh border, 3,180 km border has been fenced while 916 km is being covered through physical and non-physical barriers. To be sure, not the entire length of the border can be fenced due to riverine/low lying areas; Shah, in his speech, was referring to the remaining 60 km of the border which can be fenced physically.

“I have no misconceptions that fencing alone secures our borders. I believe that it is the (BSF) jawans deployed at these harsh border terrains who secure the borders safe from any activity from the enemy, or smuggling of narcotics, weapons or any other illegal activity,” Shah said at the 59th raising day of BSF in Hazaribagh.

Asserting that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has given top priority to border security, Shah said “it is because of you (BSF) that I am able to sleep in my home without any worry of (the) enemy’s activities”.

The home minister also reiterated that the government is moving for a “final assault” on left wing extremism (LWE), for which the BSF, the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) and the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) are ready.

While chairing a review meeting in October this year, Shah had said that LWE will be eliminated from the country in two years.

“The security forces have opened new 199 camps in the core areas of Naxals in last few years, making it difficult for the red ultras to gather resources for their activities and provides (for) better domination of the forces ,” Shah said.