NEW DELHI: Some elements that do not want to see peace in India are using the country’s open borders, especially that with Nepal, to “infiltrate” into the country, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Thursday at the 56th Raising Day celebrations of border guarding force SSB.
Addressing the troops and officers of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB), Shah said that in the last one year 54 “infiltrators, including two Pakistanis, have been nabbed at this border.
Besides people from Pakistan, infiltrators from 24 countries also tried to enter India. The SSB is tasked with guarding the 1,751-km long frontier with Nepal and Bhutan.
Shah said India enjoys very “cordial and friendly” relations with Nepal and Bhutan and the border force has ensured that people from these nations are treated with “respect” at these fronts.
“But, as travelling across the globe has become easier, elements from those countries who do not want peace in India have been using the Nepal border to infiltrate into the country,” the minister said.
The SSB, he said, has been doing a good job in checking who to allow and who to stop at the borders with the two Himalayan nations. Shah also revealed that the SSB has seized “banned items” worth over Rs 380 crore at these borders in last one year, including Rs 166 crore worth of narcotics.
Shah said the SSB will get an additional manpower of 12,055 personnel by the end of next year. He also promised to make sure within one-and-half years that jawans of all border guarding forces get to spend at least 100 days with their families.