Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday said some forces inimical to India were using the borders of friendly countries like Nepal and Bhutan to push “infiltrators.”
Addressing the troops and officers of the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) on its 56th Raising Day celebrations, he said that in the last one year “54 infiltrators, including two Pakistanis,” have been nabbed at the Nepal border. These infiltrators were from 24 countries, apart from Pakistan.
The SSB is tasked with guarding the 1,751-km long frontier with Nepal and Bhutan. It was raised in the aftermath of the 1962 Chinese aggression.
Mr. Shah said India enjoyed very “cordial and friendly” relations with Nepal and Bhutan and the border force had ensured that people from these nations were treated with “respect” at these fronts. The country's 130 crore people were sleeping peacefully because all the border guarding forces like the SSB were protecting the nation and serving in hostile environment, where temperatures range from minus 46 degrees Celsius to 47 degrees Celsius.
Mr. Shah promised to the troops that the government would make sure that within one to one and a half years the jawans of all border guarding forces got to spend at least 100 days with their children, families and parents.
“This is a difficult job but as the Modi government has accomplished other difficult targets, this will be done too," he said at an SSB camp in south Delhi. He added that the force would get an additional manpower of 12,055 personnel by the end of next year.
The Ambassadors of Nepal and Bhutan, Army Chief General Bipin Rawat and chiefs of various Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) and Ccentral police organisations attended the event.
