Border with Bangladesh to be sealed by 2018: Rajnath Singh

Indian union home minister Rajnath Singh said the BJP government was committed to sealing the 223.7 km Indo-Bangladesh border in next one and a half years.

Noting that the security of the more than 200-kilometre-long Bangladesh-India border was a priority for the government, he said: “We are committed to sealing the 223.7 km Bangladesh-India border and the process is on.

“It is expected to be completed within the next year and a half.”

Singh made the statement while addressing BJP workers in Guwahati on Monday, reports PTI.

“Bangladesh is our neighbouring country and we share a good and warm relation, which we will continue to pursue and remain committed to in the future,” he said.

Earlier on 2 June, the Indian government has set a deadline of June 2017 to completely seal the Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam citing ‘the influx of illegal Bangladeshi migrants, one of the key issues on which the BJP won the state Assembly polls.’

Attending a meeting with the members of the Department of Border Management, Singh directed that the entire Indo-Bangladesh border in Assam should be sealed.

For this, it was decided that 100 locations covering 11.9 km will have physical barriers in the form of fencing, and 22 locations covering 48.8 km of riverine areas will have non-physical barriers including technological barriers.