Politics of sealing the border

In a high-profile announcement on Friday, Union home minister Rajnath Singh said that it was his target to seal the India-Pakistan border by 2018. It is hard to make any sense of this. The home minister’s announcement came at the end of a high-level meeting in Jaipur of chief ministers and leading officials from J&K, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat, the four states that have sections of nearly 2,300 kilometres long international boundary (IB) that separates India and Pakistan. Border management is tasked to the Union home ministry.

However, the project that Mr Singh refers to is not new. In fact, more than 90 per cent of the IB is already “sealed” in a manner of speaking, and the process has been going on for years. A physical barrier in the form of fencing across large stretches already exists. Where this is not feasible, as in the marshes of the Rann of Kutch or in the shifting sand dunes of Rajasthan, technology is being brought in.

Perhaps the Union home ministry under Mr Singh can help expedite this process so that the entire IB is covered through lasers, sensor, and high-performance cameras where permanent fencing is infeasible. Physical and security infrastructure such as road networks in the border areas, well-maintained intelligence networks, and effective policing are also crucial to sound border management. Improving the existing set-up is what’s needed.

It may be noted that the IB is separate from the Line of Control, the notional boundary between the two countries that runs through Ladakh, Kashmir Valley and parts of Jammu region of J&K that abut the Valley. It is the defence ministry which is charged with ensuring or managing tranquillity on the LoC, and Mr Singh has no role here.

Given the high and hostile mountainous terrain which is snow-bound for parts of the year, “sealing” the LoC is not feasible. But even if it were, politically this may not be a sound idea. Across the LoC is Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, which is under India’s claim that was endorsed and reiterated by a parliamentary resolution of 1993.

How can we then “seal” the LoC Doing so would amount to rescinding our claim on PoK. Nevertheless, points of infiltration by terrorists sent across from Pakistan are sought to be carefully guarded. This could always be improved, of course.

It is the Uttar Pradesh politician in Mr Singh that is perhaps speaking when he speaks of sealing the border. After the “surgical strike”, PM Narendra Modi and defence minister Manohar Parrikar have featured on BJP’s hoardings and posters across UP. Perhaps the home minister would also like a mention as a no-nonsense guardian of India’s security.