Kolkata: Rajnath Singh chairs crucial meeting on Rohingya crisis with Bangladesh bordering states

Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday chaired a crucial meeting with states sharing border with Bangladesh at the West Bengal Secretariat in Kolkata.

The meeting was called to review Indo-Bangladesh border issues with chief ministers of states that share international border with the neighbouring country.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, her Assam counterpart Sarbananda Sonowal and Mirzoram's Lal Thanhawla along with officials from Meghalaya and Tripura attended the meeting.

Stressing on the need to prevent entry of illegal migrants with links to extremist groups into the country, Singh said, "We must be prepared for every eventuality. Bangladesh is a friendly country but we should be alert to make sure Bangladesh land is not used for terror activities against India."

Apart from cattle smuggling and illegal infiltration from across the border, the unfolding Rohingya refugee crisis in neighbouring Bangladesh was also discussed at the meeting.

"I have requested states to remain vigilant on the Rohingya issue," Singh told media persons. The union minister also emphasized on the need to fast track border infrastructure to strengthen border security.

Out of 4096 kilometre long international border running through five Indian states, 3006 km of border security infrastructure is currently in place and work on the remaining 1090 km is yet to be started.

Construction in some parts is yet to commence, mainly due to land acquisition issues. The home minister urged CMs to take personal interest to expedite the land acquisition process in the interest of national security.

The minister said areas where fencing was not possible will be covered using technological solutions like radars, day-night cameras, sensors etc.

According to the ministry, Border protection Grid (BPG) shall be put in place for multi-pronged and foolproof mechanism to secure the border.

"People living in the border areas are our strategic assets and need to be provided with all the infrastructure and socio-economic development facilities," Singh added.