Committee flags gaps, vulnerability in Indo-Pak border fencing

A Home Ministry-appointed committee today flagged gaps and vulnerability along the Indo-Pak border and suggested use of scientific technology and heightened vigil on riverine frontiers.

The committee, headed by former Union Home Secretary Madhukar Gupta, was set up following the terror attack on Pathankot air base and gave its presentation to Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

The Sunday's terror attack in Uri, in which 18 soldiers were killed, the terrorists were believed to have come from Pakistan crossing the Line of Control.

The committee flagged gaps and vulnerability in several areas along the Indo-Pak border and suggested ways to plug them, sources said.

The committee suggested that scientific methods like laser walls could not be installed in many infiltration-prone areas where due to treacherous terrain or marshy riverine fencing could not be installed so far.

The committee has given separate recommendations for four states which touch the international border with Pakistan as each state has separate topography and problems.

Though the Committee prepared the report on the basis of their assessment on the International Border from Gujarat to Jammu region, the situation is similar in Line of Control in Kashmir Valley, sources said.

National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, top officials of the Ministries of Home and Defence attended the meeting.

Of the 3,323 km long Indo-Pak border, 1,225 km falls in Jammu and Kashmir (including Line of Control), 553 km in Punjab, 1,037 km in Rajasthan and 508 km in Gujarat.

The committee was set up three months after the January terror attack on Pathankot to suggest ways to strengthen the security along the border with Pakistan and address the issue of gaps and vulnerability in border fencing.

It has been mandated to study all types of gaps in the fencing and all other vulnerabilities along the border and suggest a comprehensive approach to fix them on interim and and permanent basis.