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| Will flag meetings restore border peace ? | | |
Opposition for the sake of opposition. Obstruction for the sake of obstructing the other side.This is what the Pakistani forces, especially the Rangers, have been doing for the last several years on the 187-km long International Border in Jammu sector. The latest instance being the Rangers' obstruction to the plan of the BSF for raising floods lights on the IB.These flood lights are no part of any festival that is to be celebrated on the border. These lights are being installed to promote visibility during the nights so that the BSF soldiers could foil infiltration bids. During the last eight years the Ministry of Defence has sanctioned border fencing and flood lighting project as part of anti-infiltration measures. While the entire International Border st rip between Akhnoor and Kathua along with the entire LOC in Jammu and Kashmir have been fenced and at number of places flood lights have been installed repair and renovation of these two projects have
become a regular feature of activities on the IB and the LOC.It has been seen that border fence crumbles under the weight of heavy snow or storms and so is the case with the flood lights.This calls for annual repair and renovation work. Side by side a decision has been taken to increase the number of strips where the flood lights are to be installed so that not a single yard of the border belt remains without flash lights which could help militants to infiltrate into the state of Jammu and Kashmir under the cover of darkness.
And as part of the repair and renovation work the BSF had started installing additional flood lights. Once the work was started Pakistani Rangers raised a number of hurdles when they objected to it and at a couple of places threatened to open fire on the technicians and the labourers engaged in installing flood lights.In fact the Pakistani forces have not relished the idea of raising the border fence and the flood lights on the IB and the LOC. This is so because both the barbed wire fence and the flood lights had been one of the major factors responsible for preventing large groups of militants from crossing into Jammu and Kashmir.Conseqently raising objections against installing flood lights was an understandable reaction from the Rangers.On a number of occasions the Pakistani forces have created hurdles when the plan of raising the barbed wire fence was being implemented. But the Indian border guards, whether on the LOC or on the International Border, have not been unnerved by threats from across the border.Even in the face of Rangers' attempt at disrupting the flood lighting project the BSF men remained adamant as had been the case with the raising of the fence.
However,in the interest of the bilateral relations the BSF agreed to have a flag meeting with their Pakistani counterparts for resolving the dispute over installation of flood lights.There were other irritants and reports said that the conflict over the flood lights had been settled during the flag meeting that was held between the two sides on the zero line near Octroi post in R.S.Pora sector on Wednesday.Well the border problem dos not end with the end of flag meetings.During the last over 20 years the two sides have held series of flag meetings after every incident of firing or infiltrations or any other event but the decisions arrived at during these meetings usually have been flouted by the Pakistani troops and the Rangers.In fact during the last over 10 years the otherwise incident free IB has remained in news either on account of infiltration or exfiltration bids by militants and by Bangladeshi nationals.Several agencies and
touts have been minting money by bringing poor Bangladeshis near the IB after they are promised of greener pastures.These innocent and poor youths try to cross over to Pakistan where they are either engaged as labourers and domestic servants or are enrolled in arms training camps where after receiving arms training they operate as militants.The ISI has been in favour of giving ar ms t rining to Bangladeshi youhs so that they too could open another front of proxy war against India in the eastern sector.Hence neither the Pakistani troops nor the Rangers are in favour of measures being taken by the Indian forces for blocking infiltration routes because once the rate of ingress of militants touched zero level it would prove a swan's song for Pakistan's proxy war against India in Jammu and Kashmir. One is not sure whether the agreement reached between the two sides during the flag meeting in R.S.Pora sector on Wednesday pave the way for border peace or the
Pakistani forces resort to some other tricks for destabilising peace and the seven-year old border ceasefire.(eom)
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