Kashmir Impulse Desk

New Delhi, July 9

Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Thursday the country had overcome militancy in Jammu and Kashmir and naxalism in the Northeast, crediting the government’s security strategy while outlining plans to modernise border management and curb illegal infiltration.

Addressing a conference of police chiefs from border districts in New Delhi, Shah said the country’s border security architecture would become “the most modern in the world” in the coming years under the government’s Smart Border initiative.

“Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country has been freed from terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and Naxalism in the North-East,” Shah said.

His remarks come as the government has repeatedly highlighted improvements in the security situation in Kashmir and the Northeast, where militant violence has declined in recent years, although sporadic attacks continue.

Shah said the conference was aimed at strengthening coordination among border guarding forces, state governments and district administrations while helping formulate long-term policy on border security.

He said the government was building an integrated security grid involving security forces, civil administration and local communities to strengthen surveillance and improve development in border regions.

The minister said the government intended to eliminate illegal infiltration and significantly weaken narcotics trafficking over the next three years.

“We are building a strong system to ensure infiltration does not happen at all,” he said.

Shah said investment in border infrastructure had increased fourfold under the current government, while scientific and technology-driven approaches were being adopted to improve surveillance and security.

He said work was underway to fence the 1610-km India-Myanmar border at a cost of about Rs 310 billion.

The government was also implementing the Vibrant Villages Programme to improve infrastructure, generate employment and reduce migration from border areas, he said.

Shah said illegal infiltration remained the principal factor behind demographic changes in border districts and reiterated the government’s commitment to addressing what he described as “abnormal demographic growth caused by unnatural factors.”

He said India’s border security strategy was shifting from isolated border outposts to an integrated and proactive security network designed to counter infiltration, cross-border militancy, narcotics trafficking, smuggling, drone threats and organised crime.

Senior officials attending the conference included Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai, Minister of State Bandi Sanjay Kumar, Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Intelligence Bureau Director Tapan Deka, Directors General of Police from border states and other senior security officials.