Rajnath Singh heads to Gujarat for first border visit

NEW DELHI: With Jammu & Kashmir suffering its worst deluge over decades, Home minister Rajnath Singh will now visit the India-Pak border in Gujarat on Wednesday. Earlier the minister was supposed to assess border situation in Kashmir first.

This would be the first visit by Singh to any border after assuming the chair of the home minister. Sources said during the visit Singh would interact with both the BSF which guards the border in the deserts of Kutch and the Coast Guard which along with BSF patrols the Sir Creek area.

"Coastal security has been one of the prime concerns of this government. Home Minister will assess the border situation and the preparedness of marine forces in countering a 26/11 intrusion through sea route," said a home ministry official.

Sources said both coast guard and the BSF would give presentations on the nature and situation of the border and the challenges of manning it. "It would largely be a familiarisation exercise. The difficulties of the western border in Gujarat are very different from other borders.

It's a harsh terrain with the threat of smugglers and gun runners breaching border security. Similarly, Sir Creek with dispute over boundary is even more difficult to manage," said the official.

Patrolling both the Rann of Kutch and Sir Creek are in urgent need of upgrade with need for faster boats and vehicles, say sources. Though Sir Creek is regularly scanned by UAVs based on intelligence input, the over 4,000 sq km area is very difficult to keep an eye on. Agencies regularly pick up information about men from Pakistan trying to enter India using the Sir Creek route.

The patrolling is further complicated by the fact that fishermen from both India and Pakistan regularly cross the disputed boundary in Sir Creek only to be arrested by forces of respective countries.