Technology and gap closure used to seal border in Kachchh: Manohar Parikkar

Defence Minister Manohar Parikkar on Monday spoke on the challenging task of border maintenance along India-Pakistan border in Kachchh region of Gujarat and said that they are attempting to inhibit unauthorized entry through technology and closing of gaps.

"The Border Security Force is being tightened and the gaps are being filled as this is a very difficult border. There are many areas where you cannot put a fence, since it's swampy and marshy area. But with the help of technology and by closing the gaps, we are attempting that no unauthorized can enter the country," Parikkar said.

Indian security forces along the entire length of the border with Pakistan have been put on high alert following the Uri terror attack. But only about half the border that Gujarat shares with Pakistan has been fenced.

The marshy terrain in Kachchh poses challenges to building and maintaining a border fence. Fencing along the India-Pakistan border in Kachchh has been approved for only 340 km of the border in Gujarat. It has not even been approved for about 200 km of the 512 km of the border in Gujarat.

The actual building of the fence has been completed only on 262 km. This means just half the entire length of the border with Pakistan is fenced.

The Centre government has since the 1990s undertaken the task of constructing a border fence to prevent easy crossing into India. Fencing has been completed in sensitive regions like Punjab, which has seen two major attacks by terrorists from Pakistan since 2015.

The International Border that runs from the Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir to the watery wastelands of Kachchh does not see as much infiltration activity as compared to the Line of Control in Kashmir.

But the border has seen infiltrations by drug traffickers or terrorists, like the ones who attacked Dinanagar and Pathankot, both in Punjab.