On Tuesday, the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said the highest number of cross-border incursions over the past three years took place along the country’s border with Bangladesh. However, no such cross-border violations were reported along India’s border with China and Bhutan.
The information was given in a written reply to a question asked in the Lok Sabha by Member of Parliament and Lok Janshakti Party leader Chirag Paswan. During the winter session of the Parliament that began late last month, Paswan requested statistics on the number of border incursions over the past three years.
In response, the Minister of State in the MHA, Nisith Pramanik, said, “128 infiltrations reported along Pakistan border, 1,787 along Bangladesh border, 25 along Nepal border, 133 along Myanmar border, while nil at China and Bhutan border.” The government has erected border fences and installed floodlights to help the security forces successfully conduct patrols, he noted.
Pramanik that India has installed manned observation posts, vulnerability mapping of Border Out Posts, special surveillance equipment, and instruments like Hand Held Thermal Imagers and Night Vision Devices. Due to the variety of threats posed along the border, Indian security forces also use watercraft boats and anti-tunnelling exercises to reduce the number of infiltrators near problematic areas like riverine gaps and inaccessible terrains.
He further revealed that the border security forces are in close contact with Central and State government officials to assess the need to set up a special monitoring team dedicated to tracking and controlling infiltration, specifically in light of the rising population along the borders.
The Parliament has deliberated on the issue of infiltrations from Bangladesh several times in the recent past. In fact, in August, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt reported over 441 incidents of infiltration from Bangladesh during the first six months of 2021. He also said one person was killed and 740 others were apprehended by Indian security forces during those six months.
India and Bangladesh share a 4,095-kilometre-long border along five states—West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Tripura. From this, 1,116 kilometres is along their shared rivers. This has been the source of several diplomatic issues between both countries, which frequently conduct Joint Working Groups and Foreign Office consultations to ensure cooperation to curb illegal activities along their shared border and resolve their water disputes, such as that along the Teesta river.