With 'hostile' Pak as neighbour, forces need to be alert: Modi

He was speaking at the inauguration of the three-day 'Know Your Army Exhibition', where weapons and equipments used by the Army were kept on display for the general public.

"Gujarat is a border state. It is sharing border, both land and sea, with Pakistan. And at a time like this, when the neighbouring country has become hostile, there is much more need for the security forces to be alert," Modi said.

Modi further said that be it jawans of Border Security Force (BSF), Army, Air force, Navy or Coast Guard, there should be coordination between them.

"There has to be coordination and information sharing between the security agencies for securing the nation," the Chief Minister said.

Modi also said that he wanted Naval wing of NCC (National Cadet Corp) in all schools in the coastal areas of the state.

"In the coming days we want to emphasise on Navy. We have floated a scheme for coastal regions known as Sagar Khedu. One of the objectives of this scheme is to have a Naval unit of NCC functional in every school in the coastal area of the state," he said.

Explaining the rationale behind having Naval unit of NCC in schools of coastal areas, Modi said, "The children of fishermen spent their life in the sea so they have a natural ability for dealing with coast situation. And I want this inbuilt strength to be utilised for national security."

If these students from the coast regions are recruited in the Navy, it will help a lot and also, their training, discipline in the Navy will help them secure the coast even after retirement, he added.

The CM also expressed his desire that all the engineers and engineering students of the state see the Army weapon and equipment exhibition and understand the technology.
He said that engineering students should try and develop indigenous techniques to develop such weapons in India itself and decrease country's dependence on other nations for weapons.

Modi also flagged off a 1300 km rally to promote and encourage youth in the state to join armed forces.

The first leg of the rally from Ahmedabad to Porbander via Rajkot would be on motorcycles. From there it would move along the coast in a Coast Guard boat to Koteshwar in Kutch, where the participants would ride camels in the Kutch desert, before returning to Gandhinagar by March 21.

The personnel from Army, Air Force, Navy, BSF and Coast Guard are participating in the rally.