UNION Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday said that the Government was considering expansion of the BSF’s operational mandate by assigning it new sectors, and announced that a new paradigm of “territorial security” will be added to complement conventional border security. Addressing BSF personnel on a visit to Gujarat’s Kutch district to review border security, he also said the ongoing work to secure the vulnerable sections of the Harami Nala and Sir Creek areas along the border with Pakistan was almost 70 per cent complete. The Union Government has decided to transform the BSF’s concept of border security, he said. The BSF currently guards India’s borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh. “When I assumed office as the country’s Home Minister, during my first review of the BSF’s operations, the Harami Nala and Sir Creek areas appeared somewhat lacking in terms of security preparedness,” Shah said.

 

The Government formulated an action plan aimed at establishing a “leak proof” security grid in every respect, with the measures ranging from construction of watchtowers and connecting roads to the provision of drinking water, medical services, residential facilities, and new fencing, he said. “I can state that approximately 70 per cent of this work has now been completed. It gives me and the Ministry of Home Affairs immense satisfaction to know that within the next two years, this vulnerable sector will be permanently secured against the malevolent gaze of the enemy,” Shah said. The Government has decided to mark the 60th year of the BSF by completely transforming its concept of border security, he said. “In the coming days, we will establish a security grid based on a four-pronged concept (quadrangular security grid), and we will also launch a new paradigm of ‘territorial security’ to complement traditional border security.

 

Through this collaborative effort undertaken as part of the ‘Smart Border Security’ project, the Government is working to fortify the security grid across India’s entire border, encompassing both the Bangladesh and Pakistan fronts, he said.