Nisar says western borders fencing to check illegal movements

Four more crossings to be set up at western border by 2020

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan has said fencing of Pakistan-Afghanistan border together with installation of an effective surveillance mechanism will significantly help in checking illegal and cross border movement of unwanted elements within 2-3 years.

“The present government has taken decision of fencing of the western border in view of frequent cross border movement and has regulated this movement by making travel documents mandatory for the crossing purposes,” Nisar said on Tuesday.

He was addressing participants of 106th National Management Course undergoing their mandatory training at the National School of Public Policy before assuming senior most slots of civil service.



He said when he took over as interior minister, at least 30,000 to 50,000 people crossed into and moved out of Pakistan on a daily basis just via Torkham border crossing and that too without any documentation.

Nisar said by 2020, four more crossing points would be added to the western border in addition to the two existing ones. “Within next 2-3 years, an effective border surveillance system would be in place on the western border with watchtowers, cameras and movement detection sensors,” he added.

Reviewing the overall situation of the country, the minister observed that law and order had improved significantly during recent years as a result of concerted efforts by all stakeholders including the civilian governments, the armed forces, police, civil armed forces and intelligence agencies.

“We have never let political divisions come in way of security cooperation and have always extended maximum cooperation to the provincial governments regardless of their political affiliations,” he said.



Nisar said contrary to what is projected or claimed, the improvement in security situation is the result of shared efforts and credit for the improved security situation goes to all stakeholders.

He said Pakistan’s fight against terrorism has indeed been a success story. “Pakistan has witnessed a sharp decline in terror related incidents. From a peak of over 2,000 incidents in 2010, last year’s figure stands at 785 out of which 285 incidents did not involve any loss of life,” he said.

The minister claimed that the present government with complete civil-military consensus pursued the option of dialogue with the militants to explore peaceful option to the problem.

“The government gave 8 months to the process of dialogue to bear any results. After the option of dialogue was exhausted, the military operation was launched with full homework,” he said.



Nisar said after the National Action Plan was formulated, practical steps were taken and an effective mechanism was put in place for mutual intelligence sharing not only among various intelligence agencies but also between federal and provincial governments.

To a question about role of Rangers in Karachi operation and the issues of extension of their stay at regular intervals, the minister reiterated that the services of Rangers were provided to the Sindh government to assist the provincial government in maintenance of peace in the metropolis.

“Though law and order is a provincial subject the federal government has always extended every possible assistance to provincial governments in maintaining peace and stability. As far as the stay of Rangers is concerned the federal government will strictly follow the legal course under law,” he added.