Rajnath to brief 150 editors of regional media about security

Conference comes days after the army carried out surgical strikes on terror launch pads in PoK

Amidst escalating tension with Pakistan, Home Minister Rajnath Singh will brief around 150 editors of regional media about the country's internal security and prevailing situation along the Indo-Pak border.

Singh, a key member of the Cabinet Committee on Security, will tell the editors of mostly regional newspapers published and circulated in North and Northeast about various steps taken for strengthening the internal security apparatus as well as border security at a two-day conference to be held in Chandigarh next week.

The Home Minister will inaugurate the Regional Editors Conference on October 17 which will be attended by editors of regional papers of Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Assam and other Northeastern states, a Home Ministry official said.

The Home Minister will give deeper perspective and context with regards to various initiatives, policies and programmes of the government, the official said.

The conference comes nearly a fortnight after the Indian Army carried out surgical strikes on terror launch pads in PoK after 19 soldiers were killed by terrorists in Uri.

A sizeable section of the armed forces personnel come from these states from where the editors of the regional media hail and sentiments of the people there about the ongoing tension with Pakistan is considered to be very high.

The Home Minister is expected to tell the editors about the NDA government's broader agenda on internal security and steps taken to strengthen security on the international border and Line of Control with Pakistan.

Singh had already said that the border with Pakistan would be sealed by December 2018. He had also said India never attacks anyone and it does not intend to occupy others' land.

"Our heritage is 'Vasudev Kutumbakam' meaning the whole word is one family. We never open fire first, but if attacked, in retaliation we never count the bullets after pulling the trigger," he had said.

The Home Minister also said that despite Modi government's efforts to improve relations with Pakistan, there has been no reciprocation from Islamabad and stressed that there will be "no compromise with the honour of the country".

Singh is expected to announce the NDA government's intention to set up regional media centres in different parts of the country on the line of National Media Centre established in New Delhi.

During his recent visit to Jammu and Kashmir, journalists of the state had requested him to help in setting up media centres in Srinagar and Jammu.